NWFSC Research Brief #5: Influences on Wildfire Burn Severity: Treatment and landscape drivers in an extreme fire event

In this study, researchers analyzed how previous management efforts
and other factors including weather and landform influenced burn severity
during the 2006 Tripod Complex Fires, which at the time represented the
largest wildfire event in over 50 years in the state of Washington. The Tripod
Complex burned over 170,000 acres of mixed-conifer forests, including 387
past harvest and fuel-treatment units. By evaluating differences in burn severity
in areas with and without harvest and fuel treatments, as well as between areas
with different landform, vegetation, insect outbreak, and weather during
burning, researchers evaluated the relative influence of these drivers on burn
severity during the fire.