Background <p>Managers of seasonally dry western North American conifer forests are tasked with increasing forest resilience to both wildfire and drought. Wildfire hazard reduction techniques, like prescribed fire, that reduce forest density may also lessen forest vulnerability to drought and enhance growth by reducing competition for water. However, fire may also come with costs, if fire-caused injuries impair growth and the maintenance of tree water balance. We examined whether fire-caused injuries and their physiological impacts limit the degree to which fire-induced reductions of competition improve tree water relations and growth. We monitored two widespread western North American conifer species before and after two prescribed burns in comparison to unburned control sites. Additionally, we implemented a rainfall exclusion treatment to explicitly examine whether fire-caused injuries exacerbate post-fire drought effects. We followed Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine pre-fire and at multiple timesteps up to 22 months post-fire to assess short-term changes in water status and growth as a function of changes in tree carbon balance (non-structural carbohydrates), fire injuries (crown scorch, cambium kill), and changes in competition.</p> Results <p>We found that, on average, burned trees exhibited higher water stress relative to unburned controls over the first 1–2 years post-fire, despite fire-induced decreases in competition. Experimental post-fire drought exacerbated these differences at one of our two sites. Burning also caused a transient reduction in radial growth which was strongly related to the level of crown scorch a tree sustained. Our results also suggest that tree growth and water status may recover after initial declines, but to different degrees at our two sites.</p> Conclusions <p>Our results show that, in the short-term, negative effects of fire injuries can complicate positive effects of density reductions. Trees may be more vulnerable to drought or other stressors during this time period, although benefits may be realized once recovery from fire injuries has occurred. Although our results show a fire-induced window of susceptibility to drought and reduced growth, we acknowledge the myriad demonstrated benefits of prescribed burning, and caution that our results should be placed in the context of larger efforts to restore vast areas of fire-prone forests.</p>