Six Decades of Forest Fire Science in Canada

Abstract

This account of the history and accomplishments of forest fire research in Canada begins with a few basic statistics, and some background on changing attitudes to fire. A historical note on the contributions of Wright and Beall in the 1930's and 1940's follows. Fire science is then divided into six diverse categories: fire behavior, fire management systems, fire ecology, prescribed fire, fire economics, and fire suppression, with a note on developments and accomplishments in each. The references given are examples of the wide range of activity within the whole field of fire-related science and technology, but do not constitute a bibliography.