Lightning-caused wildfire in a wilderness area presents challenges and opportunities. Firefighters must access and contain the fire with minimal use of helicopters and gasoline-powered machinery. But they can use wildfire as a natural process to help reduce dangerous fuel loads, such as swaths of beetle-killed trees. Fire managers use natural barriers to contain a wildfire and pre-identify trigger points. If the fire reaches a trigger point, suppression activities begin.
Last updated: June 6, 2018