Carrie Berger

Wildfire smoke is typically a mixture of water vapor, gases, fine particles, and trace minerals from burning fuels like trees and vegetation, other organic components, and, sometimes, building materials.

By Carrie Berger, | Article

Fire FAQs—What is forest fuel, and what are fuel treatments?

Forest fuel is combustible biomass—everything from needles and twigs to shrubs, downed trees, and logs. Wildland fire managers reduce and rearrange fuel to reduce the probability of forest fires. Fuel treatments include thinning, prescribed burning, pruning, and mowing. A combination of treatments...

By Dan Leavell, Stephen Fitzgerald, Carrie Berger | OSU Extension Catalog

Fire FAQs—Who owns Oregon's forests, and how does that matter when it comes to fire?

Oregon's wildfire landscape is clouded by the mix of public and private interests that control more than 30 million acres. Forests make up nearly half of Oregon, and most forests fall under federal management. Forest ownership factors into both the number of fires and the size to which they grow.

By Dan Leavell, Lauren Grand, Stephen Fitzgerald, Carrie Berger | OSU Extension Catalog

Fire FAQs—What is fire severity?

Fire severity is a measure of the effects of fire on the environment—both in damage to vegetation and impacts on the soil. Fire severity is driven by weather conditions, the topography of the landscape, and the fuels that are present. Of these, weather is the overriding factor.

By Dan Leavell, Lauren Grand, Stephen Fitzgerald, Carrie Berger | OSU Extension Catalog

Fire FAQs—Air quality impacts from prescribed fire and wildfire: How do they compare?

Compares the impacts that prescribed fires and wildfires have on air quality. One in a series of fire FAQs that are based on questions Forest & Natural Resource Extension agents and specialists have received from the people they serve.

By Dan Leavell, Stephen Fitzgerald, Carrie Berger | OSU Extension Catalog