In 2006, the Tripod Complex Fire burned more than 175,000 acres in north-central Washington. The fire, which was within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, was more than three times the size of Seattle. Yet while considered severe at the time, even larger wildfires in 2014, 2015 and 2021 have since dwarfed Tripod.
Past research shows that large and severe wildfires like these were much rarer in the western U.S. and Canada prior to the late 20th century.
that will allow managers and policymakers to imagine and realize a different future: one where large, severe wildfires like Tripod are once again rare events, even under climate change.dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas.
The simulated area for the REBURN model. The red outline indicates the area affected by the 2006 Tripod Complex Fire. Credit: Brion Salter/U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Short intervals between forest reburns can be especially harmful for long-term recovery by destroyingFrom 1940 to 2005 in Washington's North Cascades, fire crews extinguished more than 300 fires in their early stages in the Tripod area—most triggered by lightning strikes. By the 1980s and 1990s, forests in the region had become high-density tinderboxes, loaded with older, dying trees and lots of dead wood and other fuel on the ground.
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