Construction and landscaping professionals are generally not required to obtain credentials indicating their competency in mitigating the risk of structural damage in a wildfire. We discuss implications of this policy gap and propose a solution to bolster competency of professionals in wildfire protection as communities further expand in fire-prone areas.

Wildfires and heatwaves in summer are connected. Our results concerning the Iberian Peninsula show that together with more extreme heat events observed in the region, an increase in burned area was also found in the month of June, while a prominent decrease in such events was found in September.

Recently burnt areas tend to produce strong runoff responses but predicting such responses still poses a major challenge. Here, the runoff predictions of OpenLISEM were assessed for a completely burnt 10 ha-catchment. Optimised model inputs varied markedly between the 16 runoff events, with initial moisture conditions being of limited relevance.

Buried fire scars are common in thick-barked Abies religiosa and Pinus pseudostrobus fire-scarred trees. The oldest, largest trees do not necessarily contain more fire scars, and the absence of visible scars does not imply the absence of fire. These findings will facilitate future dendroecological research in tropical montane conifer species.

Fuel has been measured for the first time in Austrian coniferous forests. We found considerable difference in fuel by region and forest type, with low-productivity forests having the least fuel. Dense forests have more dead needles and woody fuel, but less herbs and grass, compared with open-canopy forests.

Fifty percent of all riparian vegetation along 29 394 km of stream in coastal catchments of NSW, Australia, was burned in the 2019–2020 summer with 29% experiencing extreme or high-severity burns. Novel ecosystems have likely been created, requiring a new approach to riparian vegetation management to prepare for future catastrophic fires.