Welcome to the Fire Environment page. This page aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the fire environment across Tennessee. Updates will be provided weekly, at a minimum, from October 15 through May 15 to support prescribed burning operations and planning.
January 23, 2026
Remember Burn Permits are required October 15 - May 15th. (burnsafetn.gov) Check with your local municipalities if there are additional requirements, TDEC has additional restrictions with large piles.
A massive winter storm will be coming in on Saturday. We are expected to get precipitation in freezing ice and snow across the state. Therefore, Energy release component is going to be really low making it difficult to even start a fire. This is going to help our increasing drought situation with at least D1 across the state with some places in D2. That being said, our KBDIs are sitting pretty good with higher numbers (dryer soil) in middle and west TN and down by Chattanooga.
Long term discussion:
The weather for FEB is setting up to stay cold cold cold. We may have a dry spring which means not many great windows with optimal conditions to have any RX. Keep your eyes on the KBDIs, drought, and days since rain, RH and winds when we start heading into the spring.
See images below for Drought, KBDI, and ERC.
GET A PERMIT!
A massive winter storm will be coming in on Saturday. We are expected to get precipitation in freezing ice and snow across the state. Therefore, Energy release component is going to be really low making it difficult to even start a fire. This is going to help our increasing drought situation with at least D1 across the state with some places in D2. That being said, our KBDIs are sitting pretty good with higher numbers (dryer soil) in middle and west TN and down by Chattanooga.
Long term discussion:
The weather for FEB is setting up to stay cold cold cold. We may have a dry spring which means not many great windows with optimal conditions to have any RX. Keep your eyes on the KBDIs, drought, and days since rain, RH and winds when we start heading into the spring.
See images below for Drought, KBDI, and ERC.
GET A PERMIT!
