v1.0.0 Β· Prescribed Fire Decision Dashboard Β· Open Source (GPL v3)
BurnWindow is an open-source, browser-based go/no-go decision support tool for prescribed fire managers.
It integrates real-time weather forecasts, the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) system, CFFDRS Fire Behavior
Prediction (FBP) system, drought indices, air quality data, and nearby active fire detection into a single
field-ready dashboard β with no server, no login, and no installation required.
Data Sources Weather & Forecast β Open-Meteo (7-day forecast + 60-day archive for FWI chain; free, no key required) RAWS / Station Obs β nearest stations selected from an embedded database of ~5,000 RAWS and ASOS locations. Observations fetched in priority order: (1) Synoptic Data / MesoWest API (free token optional β required for real RAWS); (2) NWS weather.gov ASOS observations (no key, automatic fallback); (3) stale cached obs if recent fetch failed; (4) Open-Meteo model estimate as last resort. Non-noon observations (outside 10 amβ4 pm local) always revert to the model for FWI calculation. Air Quality (AQI) β AirNow / EPA (requires free API key) Active Fire Detection β NIFC (public, no key required) Weather Alerts β NWS / weather.gov (public, no key required) Maps β Leaflet with OpenStreetMap tiles
Fire Science Methodology
Van Wagner, C.E. (1987). Development and structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Forestry Technical Report 35. Canadian Forestry Service, Ottawa.
Forestry Canada Fire Danger Group (1992). Development and structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System. Information Report ST-X-3. Forestry Canada, Ottawa.
Keetch, J.J. & Byram, G.M. (1968). A Drought Index for Forest Fire Control. Research Paper SE-38. USDA Forest Service.
Taylor, S.W., Pike, R.G., & Alexander, M.E. (1997). Field Guide to the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System. Special Report 11. Canadian Forest Service.
β Disclaimer
BurnWindow is an experimental decision-support tool intended to supplement β not replace β a certified burn plan,
NWS spot weather forecast, trained burn boss judgment, or compliance with applicable laws and permits.
Always follow your written burn plan, maintain adequate holding resources, and never burn without proper authority.
β‘ 24-Hour Window β All Units β click to expand
In Rx
Marginal
Out
βΆ Show
β‘ All Units
Each row shows today's 24-hour prescription window for that unit. β‘ All Units shows hours when every unit is simultaneously in prescription.
Burn Units
οΌ Add Burn Unit
π‘ API Budget & Cache Statusβ²
Loadingβ¦
π FWI System β Algorithm Notesβ²
Canadian FWI System (Van Wagner 1987)
The FWI System uses four moisture codes and two behaviour indices, each updated daily from noon
standard observations (temperature, RH, wind, 24-hr precipitation).
FFMC tracks surface litter moisture (0β101). It responds within hours β
a single dry afternoon drives it toward ignition thresholds above 85.
DMC tracks duff moisture (loosely compacted organic matter, ~5 cm deep).
It has a multi-week memory and reflects sustained drying between rain events.
DC tracks deep organic/mineral layer drought (weeks to months).
It is the primary driver of BUI and thus of the final FWI value in dry seasons.
ISI = FFMC + wind β rate of spread.
BUI = DMC + DC β available fuel.
FWI = ISI Γ BUI β overall fire intensity.
Historical Chain Method
BurnWindow initializes the FWI chain by fetching 60 days of daily weather history from
Open-Meteo's archive endpoint and walking each code forward day-by-day from Van Wagner
startup defaults (FFMC=85, DMC=6, DC=15).
Convergence: FFMC is accurate after ~5 days.
DMC after ~21 days. DC β and therefore BUI β after ~42 days.
A cold spring with regular rain keeps DC low; a dry April rapidly drives it into the 200β400 range,
pushing FWI meaningfully higher than startup defaults would show.
Caching: The chain state (FFMC, DMC, DC) is stored in
localStorage keyed by lat/lon. On subsequent days, only the incremental days since the last run
are fetched β typically 1β2 days of data, one lightweight API call.
Sources: Van Wagner & Pickett (1985); Lawson & Armitage (2008).
Archive data: Open-Meteo /archive (free, no key required).
π¨ Air Quality / Smoke Monitoring (AirNow API)β²
Without a token, the app uses the nearest ASOS airport
via weather.gov (no key required). A free Synoptic token upgrades to actual
fire-weather RAWS stations instead.
Get yours free at developers.synopticdata.com/signup
β create account β copy Public Token.
No token β airport weather used as fallback
π‘ LOCAL USE: Download and open in Chrome/Firefox/Safari β weather API calls require a local file context.
| Data storage: Burn units, prescriptions, logs, and Go/No-Go history are saved in your browser's localStorage β local to this device, never uploaded. Clearing browser data will erase them. Back up by saving a copy of this HTML file.
| β Disclaimer: BurnWindow is an experimental decision-support tool. It does not replace a certified burn plan, spot weather forecast, trained burn boss judgment, or compliance with applicable laws. Always follow your written burn plan and maintain adequate holding resources.
| Weather: Open-Meteo Β· Fire incidents: NIFC IRWIN Β· NWS alerts Β· Station obs: NWS weather.gov (no key) or Synoptic RAWS (optional free token) Β· Caches 30 minβ2 hrs.
Fire Resources & Reporting
Detecting location from burn unit coordinatesβ¦
New Burn Unit
Right-click any point in Google Maps β "Copy coordinates" and paste directly.
π² Fire Behavior (FBP System) β CFFDRS fuel type for ROS / HFI prediction
%
%
π₯ Burn Prescription β specific to this unit (leave blank to use global defaults)
These values override the global prescription panel for this unit only. Leave a field blank to inherit the global value.
%
%
mph
mph
Β°F
%
0β101
spread
buildup
overall
mph
0β800
kW/m
m/min
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
π HOW TO IMPORT
1. Download the template CSV below
2. Fill in your units β use either GPS coordinates (lat/lon columns) or an address/ZIP (address column) β BurnWindow will geocode addresses automatically
3. Leave prescription columns blank to use global defaults
4. Upload the filled CSV and click Import