Daniel Swain, Zeke Lunder, Kevin Fetterman to discuss how they get timely, reliable fire updates

As wildfire season ramps up, Californians may be looking for accurate, up-to-date fire information. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources is helping communities prepare for wildfire.

To help Californians find reliable sources, the UC ANR Fire Network will host a free webinar “Fire Savvy: Finding and Navigating Fire Information in California” on Thursday, May 21, from 9 to 10 a.m.

The information space has evolved and grown in recent years, providing a richer set of resources, but also making it difficult to navigate and compare the available options.

"We are living in an age of information, which is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming – especially during fire season,” said UC ANR Fire Network Director Lenya Quinn-Davidson. “This webinar will bring together some of the best minds in the fire information space.”

Join Quinn-Davidson for a conversation with some prominent wildfire experts: Kevin Fetterman, Watch Duty senior vice president of public safety strategy; Zeke Lunder, wildland fire and forestry communicator and director of The Lookout; and Daniel Swain, climate scientist with UC ANR’s California Institute for Water Resources. 

“We'll hear about the resources they each provide, but we'll also get the inside scoop on how they source data, curate content and inform the public during fires,” Quinn-Davidson said. 

The panelists will discuss how fire information plays out at different scales, from the individual fire incident to the larger landscape and climate.

“All three of our speakers have fundamentally reshaped the way people understand and engage with fire – they are innovators and influencers,” Quinn-Davidson said.

Watch Duty is a nonprofit app that alerts users of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real time.

On The Lookout website, Lunder uses open-source wildfire intelligence and decades of wildfire mapping experience to provide context and real-time fire information.

On his Weather West YouTube channel, Swain often hosts livestreams during active fires to answer questions about how weather conditions are affecting a fire’s behavior.

Register for the free webinar at https://bit.ly/FireSavvyWebinar. 

The webinar will be recorded and posted to the UC ANR Fire Network YouTube channel within a week of the event at https://www.youtube.com/@ucanrfirenetwork.