Fire
The Savannah River Site Forest Fire Management program plays a central role in sustaining the ecological health and long‑term resilience of the Savannah River Site (SRS). Its highly trained workforce delivers wildfire fuel reduction, wildfire response, and a broad range of support services that protect both natural resources and critical Department of Energy infrastructure.
Prescribed fire moves through a forest on SRS.
A cornerstone of the program is its extensive prescribed fire operation, which treats roughly 25,000 acres annually. These carefully planned burns reduce hazardous fuel loads, lowering the risk of high‑severity wildfires while maintaining the vigor of SRS’s forest ecosystems. Prescribed fire at SRS directly supports habitat restoration for threatened and endangered species, controls invasive vegetation, prepares stands for timber production, enhances wildlife forage, and safeguards essential site assets. These treatments provide ecological and economic benefits that extend beyond site boundaries and into surrounding communities.
Savannah River firefighters serve as the initial attack force for all wildfires on the site, ensuring quick, locally informed suppression actions. When fires extend beyond initial operations, the fire program coordinates with DOE‑SR leadership and outside local, state, or national responders to meet suppression and recovery objectives efficiently and safely.
SRS also functions as an important national training landscape. Fire modules, interagency trainees, national programs like AmeriCorps, collegiate wildfire management programs, and the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center rely on SRS for realistic, high‑quality training environments. This contributes to national workforce readiness while increasing on‑the‑ground capacity for fuel reduction and ecosystem management at SRS.
The fire program works closely with other Forest Service natural resource, engineering, and research staff, supporting field projects and partnering with research institutions to advance studies in fuel dynamics, fire behavior, and smoke management—knowledge that benefits land managers across the country.
Finally, the program maintains a fully functional Coordination Center (Dispatch) that tracks Forest Service field operations, manages aviation resources, supports emergency response, and maintains essential communication links with SRS Operations, the Columbia Dispatch Center, and the South Carolina Forestry Commission. This ensures seamless coordination for wildfire and all‑hazard incidents locally, statewide, and nationally.