The Southern Fire Exchange (SFE) is a fire science delivery program in the Southeast, funded by the Joint Fire Science Program in agreement with the United States Forest Service, Southern Research Station. With our key partners, we strive to improve access to and usefulness of southern fire science information and offer opportunities for the fire community to interact and learn from one another.

The Keetch-Bryam Drought Index (KBDI) is one of the few daily indices used to monitor drought. It is most often utilized in the wildfire community, for it can give a real-time indication of the drying potential for the finer fuels such as grasses and shrubs. While most commonly used to monitor the risk for wildfire ignition, because it is one of the only drought monitoring indices that are updated on a daily basis, it also offers the potential for many other vegetation applications.

A collection of tools, put together by the Alabama Forestry Commission, to help you plan the optimal time for your next controlled burn and learn additional information.

VSmoke-Web is a web-based implementation of VSmoke (Lavdas, 1996) and is designed to assist with planning prescribed burns in the Southern United States.

Alabama law (9-13-11) requires that you obtain a permit from the Alabama Forestry Commission to conduct a prescribed burn for silvicultural and agricultural purposes.