VIDEO: Forest rangers are using infrared technology to detect residual heat from pile burns, helping them to identify hotspots and prepare for wildfire season.
“Everybody can remember the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire, and that was in the summer of 2022,” said Brandon Glenn, fire management officer for the Española Ranger District. “So the following winter of 2022 to 2023, we didn’t do any prescribed fires that year.” Glenn says they are done with pile burns this year. They burned 100,000 acres in the Pacheco and Hyde Park areas.
He said this year was about catching up after prescribed burn pauses following the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire and the pandemic.
Now, they have more tech in their tool belts. Glenn said crews use aerial infrared cameras to fly over the pile burns to spot residual heat.