Wildland fires occur both purposefully and by accident. Purposeful fires include fires set by individuals to remove fallen leaves or other debris. Often, foresters set small, controlled fires on purpose, called prescribed burns, to improve forest health and to reduce the chance of larger, uncontrolled forest fires. The scientists in this article studied how wind and smoke from fires move at night to better manage prescribed fires in the future. You’ll notice the articles in this first edition of Topics: Fire, Pollution, Computer Modeling, Density, Prescribed Fire, Smoke, Visibility, Wildland Fire.