SANTA FE, N.M. — 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. Aerial crews were recently able to spot heat from a pile burn, letting ground crews find it and put it out more efficiently.

Ground crews also use a handheld version – a small camera that connects to your cell phone.

“We’ll come through and, you know, like, this pile or that pile, we’ll point them out there. And then see if there’s if there’s actual heat from a pile,” Glenn said. “Every crew member in the Española Ranger District has a thermal imaging IR camera that plugs into their cell phone that they use to detect heat signatures.”

Heading into fire season, Glenn said crews will use the infrared tech for broadcast burns and to monitor any wildfires that may happen.