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Michael Gollner

@gollnerfire.bsky.social
321 followers 557 following 51 posts

Associate Professor, UC Berkeley Berkeley Fire Research Lab

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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Kelly Hereid @kellyhereid.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Great tag team with @rjnskl.bsky.social visiting @ibhs.org to cover wildfire building testing (also quotes @gollnerfire.bsky.social and his team's research on building characteristics vs wildfire survival stats www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
nytimes.com
The Wildfire Researchers Who Burn Houses Down on Purpose (Gift Article)
As wildfires intensify, threatening more people, a nonprofit is studying how to rethink homes and neighborhoods to prevent catastrophe.
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
International Journal of Wildland Fire @ijwildlandfire.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
🔥New in IJWF: Theodori et al. link reconstructed flame and ember exposure from the 2017 Tubbs Fire with structure-level damage data, showing how WUI codes, spacing and vegetation clearance shape destruction probability. 🔗 doi.org/10.1071/WF25... #IJWildlandFire
Modeled hazard metrics from the 2017 Tubbs Fire and observed structure outcomes. (Left) Maximum flame length (m) and (right) cumulative ember count, both derived from the ELMFIRE reconstruction over the first 12 h post-ignition at 30 m resolution. Observed structures are overlaid, with green points indicating not destroyed and magenta points indicating destroyed buildings. The final CAL FIRE perimeter (red outline, mapped 31 October 2017) is shown for context. These hazard outputs provide spatially explicit exposure metrics used to develop structure fragility functions.Location of structures affected by the 2017 Tubbs Fire in relation to California Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ). The maps distinguish between (left) structures not subject to the California Building Code (CBC) Chapter 7A and (right) structures subject to the code (built post-2008 in an FHSZ). Points indicate structure outcomes: green, not destroyed; magenta, destroyed, with 46.5% destroyed (left) and 47.7% destroyed (right). Shaded areas denote FHSZ categories (very high, high, moderate), and the red outline marks the final Tubbs Fire perimeter.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
New paper out in Fire Technology: Wind-Driven Building-to-Building Fire Spread: Experimental Results and Probabilistic Modeling. 23 metal and wooden sheds were ignited and exposed a full-scale structure in the large wind tunnel at IBHS, defining exposure for the first time: rdcu.be/e1fNM
rdcu.be
Wind-Driven Building-to-Building Fire Spread: Experimental Results and Probabilistic Modeling
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Pam Kan-Rice @ucanrpam.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
If homeowners let dead plant material accumulate in Zone Zero, "then it makes sense that there shouldn't be any plants in Zone Zero," Max Moritz @ucanr.edu told @lsommer.bsky.social "Having a well-watered plant is less of a risk, but it's not no risk," says @gollnerfire.bsky.social
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Tragedy in Switzerland with over 40 dead and over 100 injured in a fire in a bar. We don’t yet know the official cause, however these tragedies occur due to a chain of failures rather than just one spark. www.bbc.com/news/live/c8...
bbc.com
Switzerland ski fire latest: Around 40 people confirmed dead and 115 injured
Many young people are believed to be among the victims; one student tells the BBC he arrived at the bar expecting to celebrate, only to find a scene of chaos.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Tragedy in Switzerland with over 40 dead and over 100 injured in a fire in a bar. We don’t yet know the official cause, however these tragedies occur due to a chain of failures rather than just one spark. www.bbc.com/news/live/c8...
bbc.com
Switzerland ski fire latest: Around 40 people confirmed dead and 115 injured
Many young people are believed to be among the victims; one student tells the BBC he arrived at the bar expecting to celebrate, only to find a scene of chaos.
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Pam Kan-Rice @ucanrpam.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Maintaining “defensible space” around a home is an effective way to prevent embers from sparking a structure during a wildfire, said @gollnerfire.bsky.social “This is one of the cheapest and easiest things that you can do that has any immediate and measurable impact,” Gollner said.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Important new report from @ibhs.org on the LA Wildfires. Continuing to provide evidence on the importance of mitigation within the entire community. What helps homes avoid damage?structure separation, reduced connective fuels, and the use of resilient building materials. ibhs.org/lawildfires/
ibhs.org
2025 Los Angeles County Wildfires
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Dec 3 at 4pm PST I'll be giving a talk to the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District entitled "Exploring Effective Mitigation Measures and Drivers of Structure Loss in California’s WUI." We will cover mitigation measures and evidence to reduce structure losses. ccrcd.org/events#:~:te...
ccrcd.org
EVENTS
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
I will be recruiting 1-2 new PhD students next year. Areas of interest include experimental fire research focused on flame spread, ignition, flammability or emissions of wildland or urban fuels and modeling the spread of fires through the wildland-urban interface.
me.berkeley.edu
Admissions - UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering
Breadcrumbs Graduate Programs Ph.D. & D.Eng. Master of Science Master of Engineering Fifth Year B.S./M.S. Program Degree Requirements 5th Year Masters Program Handbook Special Programs DEEST Graduate ...
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Michael Wara @michaelwara.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
washingtonpost.com
California’s fire safety push clashes with an L.A. icon: Bougainvillea
State officials are preparing rules that would bar planting flowers like bougainvillea within five feet of buildings in some areas to reduce wildfire spread.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
California communities can reduce wildfire damage by half. Here’s how: Our new study "Fire risk to structures in California’s Wildland-Urban Interface" was published in Nature Communications today! www.nature.com/articles/s41... news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/28/c...
nature.com
Fire risk to structures in California’s Wildland-Urban Interface - Nature Communications
Wildfire risk in California’s WUI is rising. Analysis of past events shows home hardening and defensible space can reduce structure loss by up to 52%, but coordinated, community-scale action is essent...
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
ACS's Chemical and Engineering News recently highlighted our research on WUI Fire emissions, including both recent laboratory work lnkd.in/gV_Wv58R and ongoing experiments at IBHS that will soon provide detailed emissions measurements from FULL SCALE structure burns! cen.acs.org/environment/...
cen.acs.org
Why are chemists starting infernos in the lab?
Researchers simulate wildland fires that move into cities to better understand what makes their plumes particularly toxic
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Pam Kan-Rice @ucanrpam.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
“The frank reality is that we have to live differently in California,” Yana Valachovic @ucanr.edu told @toddwoody.bsky.social Zone Zero would nearly double home survival rates in wildfires. “Doing this on a community level dramatically reduces risk,” said @gollnerfire.bsky.social
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Great to see @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social highlight some ofoutreach and community work coming from both my wildfire class and the Berkeley Fire Research Lab. We've enjoyed our partnerships with the Berkeley Fire Safe Council and many other groups. news.berkeley.edu/2025/07/09/w...
news.berkeley.edu
Wildfire season is here. UC Berkeley scholars are helping Bay Area communities prepare. - Berkeley News
UC Berkeley Professor Michael Gollner and his students are applying advanced wildfire simulation tools to help neighborhoods understand their specific wildfire risks.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
The California Fire Science Seminar Series will return on February 4, 2025, at 10 am PT. Join us for the weekly, virtual presentation and discussion on emerging fire science topics from a variety of speakers. cafiresci.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?...
cafiresci.us2.list-manage.com
The 2025 California Fire Science Seminar Series — California Fire Science Consortium
The California Fire Science Seminar Series will return on February 4th, 2025. Join us every Tuesday through March 18th at 10 am PT for virtual presentations and discussions on emerging fire science to...
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Lauren Sommer @lsommer.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Los Angeles has some of the toughest wildfire policies in the country when it comes to building codes and vegetation. But these fires show there’s more to do. On @npr.org today www.npr.org/2025/01/15/n...
npr.org
What LA did right before the fires -- and why it wasn't enough
Los Angeles has wildfire policies that are far tougher than many of those in Western states. The destruction from the recent fires shows there are still major gaps to address.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
The International Fire Safety Consortium led development of an amazing resource many don't know about: a wildfire webinar series produced in coordination with @ULFSRI. 15 weeks worth of lectures are posted covering the field. Like wildfire 101. A great resource to get started! buff.ly/4cHYGun
buff.ly
Know more about IFSC Wildland Fires Webinar Series
Join the IFSC Wildland Fires Webinar Series on Wildland fires, the International Fire Safety Consortium (IFSC) combines the expertise of fire scientists and experts from around the word.
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Here's the reality about the #LAFires this week: this isn't the first time ANY of these places have burned. Not even close. In 2018, we mapped CA fire history to look at fire frequency across SoCal. Santa Monica Mtns area burns more than anywhere else -- up to once per decade in a given spot. 🧵
Map showing the number of times a location has burned in SoCal and which kind of fire it was: one burning under Santa Ana winds, or one that was a summer, fuel-driven fire without Santa Ana winds. Malibu area had burned at least 8 times from 1900-2017, and has burned twice now since. Image from Kolden and Abatzoglou (2018): https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/1/2/19
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Eric Holthaus @ericholthaus.com · 09/01/2025
Hollywood Blvd is now in a mandatory evacuation zone for the #Sunset fire. It's gridlock.
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
There’s so much discussion of what political side to blame. If we’re talking about saving homes and lives @billclerico.bsky.social comment below nails it. We need protection close to homes and that’s mostly private property. It’s a huge technical, SOCIAL, and economic problem to solve
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Many great resources for SoCal #CAFires. I recommend: 1. WatchDuty app for evacs, shelter, etc 2. @weatherwest.bsky.social does regular zoom "office hours" and explainers 3. Ben @ai6yr.m.ai6yr.org.ap.brid.gy 4. TheLookout runs a fab explainer on his YT channel:
youtube.com
The Lookout
Independent wildfire and water-related reporting. Host Zeke Lunder has 25 years experience in wildland fire management and California water issues. During wildfire season we provide UNOFFICIAL updat...
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
This isn’t the first California fire disaster, and it won’t be the last. Each time we hope that real change will occur, but it hasn’t yet. Watch videos of these fires, once they’re going under these winds there’s nothing that can suppress them. Mitigation BEFORE the fire is what we need
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Michael Wara @michaelwara.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Things could still break for the positive, but it is seeming more likely that the losses from tonight's fires could push insurance markets over the brink in California - despite all the good work CDI and stakeholders have done over the past few years to stabilize the situation.
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Reposted by Michael Gollner
Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
With the Eaton and Palisades Fires destroying likely hundreds of homes, a reminder that SoCal's worst firestorms involve multiple fires stretching resources thin. If you live anywhere near these fires (or any new ones), DO NOT WAIT for someone to knock/tell you to leave. Be Prepared and Go Early!
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Michael Gollner @gollnerfire.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Congratulations to former student Lilly Etzenbach who received the first place award for her poster on our work on the flammability and burn injury risk of astronaut clothing fabric in space at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research conference!
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