There is a common expression among wildfire experts: The question is not whether wildfires will happen, the question is when and where will they happen"

There is no doubt in the minds of fire experts and firefighters that wildfires will strike the land, but experts cannot determine exactly when and where fires will start. However, scientists have achieved significant progress in developing tools that predict the severity of a coming fire season months before it starts and that pinpoint specific areas where fire danger is high. "We do have enough in- formation available to make reasonably good predictions,"20 says Sonny Stiger, former fuel and fire manager for the USDA Forest Service.

Wildfire danger is an issue of national importance, and governments around the world have learned to take it seriously or suffer the consequences of raging wildfires that drain human and natural...