September 20, 2022 — To date, the U.S. has seen more than 50,000 wildfires resulting in nearly seven million acres burned in 2022. Organizing resources and crews to fight wildfires is an enormous undertaking. Today, more than 15,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfire incidents across the country. Among the crews are specially trained meteorologists with NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), called Incident Meteorologists (IMETs).
When there is a large wildfire, an IMET is often deployed to the fire incident command post. IMETs provide critical fire weather information to wildfire management teams so they can map out the safest possible tactics for firefighters, while also generating immediate and short-term spot forecasts needed for fire suppression. NOAA has approximately 100 IMETs and IMET trainees that are stationed at NWS forecast offices throughout the country, ready to deploy.
We captured IMETs in action at several wildfires in the West during the last two weeks of August, 2022. Take a visual journey with NOAA’s IMETs as they travel to the fire line to provide critical weather data.
Goal: Keep firefighters safe
Incident Meteorologist (IMET) Brett Lutz provides a weather briefing to firefighters at the Rum Creek Fire in southwest Oregon on August 29, 2022. IMETs typically work 16-hour days for up to 14 days straight. The large map behind Lutz is updated and posted daily to show where the fire has progressed, different fire management tactics that have been used and where firefighting efforts will take place. Weather forecasts from IMETs, along with information about terrain and ground cover type, give analysts an idea of how fast and how far a fire may move. This information gives operations personnel a baseline when deciding fire suppression and safety measures. (Robert Hyatt, NOAA’s National Weather Service)
IMET trainee Rebecca Muessle provides an update on weather conditions to fire crews at Six Rivers Lightning Fire in Northern California on August 23, 2022. Briefings and coordination between IMETs and fire managers happen several times a day to enable firefighters to safely combat wildfires. Trainees complete more than 225 hours of fire weather training and on-the-job training before becoming certified.(Robert Hyatt, NOAA’s National Weather Service)
Protective gear is important for workers to wear at a wildfire, especially for those likely to head near the fire line, including IMETs gathering weather observations. Here’s what they wear.
Clearing a path
Communication is key
Wildfires blaze across the West
Wildfire impacts go beyond acres burned
Wildfire impacts go beyond acres burned
Eyes in the sky for firefighters on the ground
Data collected from weather balloons help meteorologists develop highly detailed and point- specific forecasts that are used by fire managers to help formulate a strategy for operations for an upcoming 24-hour period. Watch a launch.