As Americans migrated from congested cities and into more rural areas of the nation, they were confronted with the problem of wildfires in the urban interface areas. The problem was the Loveland Fire Rescue Department did not adequately identify the community risk reduction factors that may have reduced wildland urban interface (WUI) fires in the past 24 months. The purpose of this research was to identify those factors.
Recommendations included implementation of a WUI community risk reduction program, enhanced training for all personnel and adoption of wildland codes and regulations.
These steps will put the fire department in the position to encourage and support citizens that live and work in the Wildland Urban Interface who are interested in becoming a fire safe community.
It concluded by recommending the release of the research data allowing the public the opportunity to comment and participate in the mitigation determination efforts.
"This curriculum provides a theoretical framework for the understanding of the ethical, sociological, organizational, political, and legal components of community risk reduction, and a methodology for the development of a comprehensive community risk reduction plan"--
Prior to this research it was suspected that Sandy City, Utah, had a significant wildland-urban interface (WUI) exposure, which presented an increased risk to the community for loss of life and property should a wildfire occur. The problem was that Sandy City had not developed any formal risk mitigation strategies to deal with its sizable wildland-urban interface areas. This presented a significant potential risk for catastrophic fire loss to life and property. The purpose of this research was to determine the extent and type of risk that existed to the community in Sandy City's extensive wildland-urban interface areas and determine what risk mitigation strategies could be implemented to reduce Sandy's risk profile. The questions researched were: 1. How much of Sandy City and its response area lies within a wildland-urban interface area? 2.What areas of Sandy City are at significant risk for loss of life and property due to wildfire in Sandy's wildland-urban interface? 3. Based on historical evidence, what are the potential impacts a wildfire may have on the residents of Sandy City and its government? 4. What risk mitigation strategies can be implemented within Sandy City to reduce the risk to life and property from a wildland-urban interface fire? A comprehensive review of historical data relating to prior interface fires with lessons learned, as well as the collection and utilization of noteworthy local fire history, terrain, and housing data was used in the completion of this research. Historical and descriptive research methods were used to determine that Sandy City did indeed have notable areas that were at increased risk for potential loss of life and property should a wildfire occur within the city's wildland-urban interface area. Recommendations included the implementation of specific risk mitigation strategies as well as increased fire protection to include training and wildfire specific equipment for fire service providers.
In Aug. 2001 the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior joined the Western Governors¿ Assoc., Nat. Assoc. of State Foresters, Nat. Assoc. of Counties, and the Intertribal Timber Council to endorse this Strategy. The four goals of the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy are: Improve fire prevention and suppression; reduce hazardous fuels; restore fire-adapted ecosystems; and promote community assistance. Its three guiding principles are: (1) Priority setting that emphasizes the protection of communities and other high-priority watersheds at-risk; (2) Collaboration among governments and broadly representative stakeholders; and (3) Accountability through performance measures & monitoring for results. Illustrations.
Wildfires represent a growing threat to environments, to people, communities, and to societies worldwide, particularly in the United States, Southern Europe, and Australia. Recognition of this growing risk has highlighted a need to develop people's capacity to adapt to annually occurring events that could increase in frequency and severity over the coming years and decades. The goal of ensuring sustained levels of protective measures in communities susceptible to wildfire hazard consequences has proved to be elusive. This book examines why this is so and identifies ways in which sustained levels of preparedness can be facilitated. Major topics include: wildfire preparedness and resiliency in community contexts; socially disastrous landscape fires in southeastern Australia; landscape typology of residential wildfire risk; proactive human response to wildfires outbreak; forest fires in wildland-urban interface, wildfire risk management; “stay or go” policy in the line of fire; social dimensions of forest fire; the influence of community diversity; evaluating a community engagement initiative; response to fire threats; social media and resiliency; and building on lessons learned. Additional information includes the landscape fires in southeastern Australia, wildfire risk management in Portugal; fire preparedness in Greece, Cyprus, and the Pine Barrens in the northeastern United States. The findings of research programs being conducted in the United States, Australia, Europe, India and South America are presented. The book includes case studies on the analysis and proposed actions of the wildland-urban interface being faced by Central Chile and South America. This book will provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the wildfire preparedness research and its application to the development of risk communications and public education programs.
The fire service must recognize the measures to reduce this risk to our customers. This is a national problem and many agencies need to play a role in wildland urban interface risk reduction. The solutions will be local and regional. Solutions may be different in different geographical areas. The fire service must play the lead role in reducing risk in the wildland urban interface.
The recommendation is for the Central Lyon County Fire District to adopt the ICC International Urban-Wildland Interface Code, produce a community wildfire protection plan, and work with the Nevada Fire Safe Council to make the communities of Moundhouse and Silver City into Firewise communities. Another recommendation is to apply for state and federal grants to secure funding to help support, and implement fuels reduction projects and education materials.
