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By Mark Moran - Producer-Editor, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Scientists and fire managers in Montana and the Southwest are using artificial intelligence and local landowner input to slow the spread of wildfires and learn how to fight them more effectively in the future. Comments from Kit O'Connor, research ecologist, Rocky Mountain Research team, U.S. Forest Service.
Mark Moran
October 18, 2023 - Fire scientists are combining traditional methods with artificial intelligence to fight fires in Montana, and across the Southwest using a new tool that also draws on local landowner expertise.
Fire science experts have used natural fire breaks -- roads, bridges, and land masses -- as ways to slow fires for a long time. Now, they are adding AI to the mix. With spatial analytical data and satellite imagery, fire managers use what they called Potential Operational Delineations to draw lines on a map and allow them to predict fire behavior, now and in the future.
Kit O'Connor, research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, said PODs are like geographical containers and are not always just for fighting a fire while it is burning.
"It's to give you that bite-sized unit that you need so that you can start to think about the values that you're managing across the landscape," O'Connor explained. "And manage them kind of bite by bite instead of trying to take on everything all at once."
O'Connor pointed out while creating the PODs, fire managers also draw on the knowledge of local landowners, so they and the Forest Service can cooperate on a plan for containing wildfires once they start.
Once scientists draw PODs for a certain landscape, the data are digitized and available to fire crews on a risk management website. O'Connor noted the Forest Service is always developing new tools to help the agency use data to predict wildfire activity based on past behavior.
"We look at how fires behaved on the landscape in the past and where they stopped, and what were the conditions where those fires stopped," O'Connor outlined. "Then, we can map out those conditions across much larger areas and say, 'These are the areas where we have the highest probability of success for potentially stopping a fire.'"
Some are critical of POD technology because it does not always call for full fire suppression in low-risk cases. But O'Connor stressed this type of planning is ultimately safer for firefighters in the urban-wildland interface and the people who live there.
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PNS - Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - Rep. Jordan fails to win the speaker's gavel but is expected to try again today. Jewish peace activists in Washington call for a ceasefire in Israel. Justice Amy Coney Barrett joins Kagan and Kavanaugh in supporting a Supreme Court code of ethics.
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PNS - Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - Jewish groups protest at U.S. Capitol, demand Gaza ceasefire; Biden's trip to Jordan canceled after Gaza hospital hit; Scientists use AI to 'predict' fire behavior.
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This year a new Butte tree ornament is available to commemorate the Copper Star on display in the BSB Courthouse. The ornament is available to help decorate holiday trees and they are available for $10 each from Mainstreet Uptown Butte.
The ornament is inspired by the Copper Star that was fabricated for Montana Resources and graced the top of the Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, DC in 2017.
The star, now on display inside the entryway of the BSB Courthouse, has eight points and features Montana's state flower, the Bitterroot, on the front and back — a three-dimensional copper piece is attached at the center.
A second holiday ornament commemorates 20 years of the Lighten Up project to illuminate the headframes on Butte Hill. It features one of Butte’s storied headframes traced in red lights.
Both ornaments make excellent gifts for friends and family looking for a touch of Uptown Butte for their holidays celebrated near or far from the Mining City.
To order these new ornaments for your tree, send a check or money order for $10 each to Mainstreet Uptown Butte, P.O. Box 696, Butte, MT 59703. For more information, send an email to Mainstreet Uptown Butte at
Any proceeds from the sale of both ornaments will support the charitable projects of Mainstreet Uptown Butte, a non-profit working to benefit Uptown Butte. For details, visit www.mainstreetbutte.org, or on Facebook at uptownbutte.
