The staff and students associated with the Fire Management Systems Laboratory (the Firelab) study forest and wildland fire behaviour, the impact of fire on boreal forest ecosystems, and the use of analytics to develop fire management decision support systems for fire and forest managers.

The University of Toronto has an ongoing partnership with the Canadian Forest Service to deliver a program in physical fire science based at the Institute of Forestry and Conservation. This program focuses on research related to forest fire behaviour and the development of enhancements to the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System.