SS 1.4: Stopping wildfires before they spark

Alistair Smith is a professor and department chair in University of Idaho’s Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences. He’s working with power companies across the globe to identify which types of vegetation are most likely to ignite — and what can be done to stop wildfires before they start. At U of I’s combustion lab, his team tests how vegetation burns under different conditions, helping utilities make informed decisions about the fuels growing beneath their power lines.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

Reducing wildfire risk with actionable research

Text: Smith’s work tackles one of the most urgent fire‑safety challenges of the modern West: preventing power‑line‑sparked wildfires. His team collects vegetation samples from utility rights-of-way across Idaho, Oregon and Washington, then tests how each plant burns under different conditions in U of I’s combustion lab. These experiments reveal which species ignite most easily and under what circumstances embers or debris are most likely to start a fire.

Power companies use this research to take immediate, practical steps — trimming or removing risky vegetation, adding water, burying lines or replacing vegetation with non‑flammable materials like gravel or concrete. The goal is to help utilities prioritize their mitigation work, reduce liability and protect communities in the wildland‑urban interface, where 46 million U.S. homes face wildfire risk.

Smith’s project is designed for rapid impact. Within just a few seasons, he and his collaborators aim to provide operational tools that power companies can use to identify high‑risk vegetation and prevent fires before they spark. By turning cutting‑edge fire science into actionable solutions, this research is already helping utilities in the Northwest and abroad protect lives, property and landscapes.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

Chapters

• (00:00) Introduction
• (01:00) Identifying flammable vegetation
• (01:45) Combustion lab
• (02:32) Helping power companies prevent fires
• (05:18) Why do power companies care now?
• (06:38) Why do we care?
• (07:48) Immediate impacts