NFPA Journal - Spring 2021 - 72

work has fallen by 54 percent since 1992. The group concluded
that without hiring more foresters, engineers, biologists, and
project coordinator specialists, the US Forest Service would not
be able to significantly increase its treatment and restoration
activities. Conducting a strategic workforce review and creating
plans to fill positions-particularly those that require years of
training-is a crucial step toward increasing the capacity of the
agency to support treatment and restoration work.
Despite these challenges, examples persist of effective land
management in areas with high wildfire risk. On the San Carlos
Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, annual prescribed burns
and mechanical treatments are conducted on more than 1,000
acres. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the San Carlos Apache
Tribe use these methods to remove fast-growing grasses that
could carry a wildfire into the community. The work also provides defensible space in which firefighters can work safely and
effectively.
In neighboring New Mexico, Santa Fe National Forest officials have conducted fuels reduction over nearly 20 years,
partnering with the state's forestry division and Department
of Game and Fish. A combination of mechanical treatments
and prescribed burns covering 8,000 acres in the Jemez
Mountains has helped reduce danger to the point that the
intensity of the 2018 Venado Fire was dramatically reduced
when it moved into the treated area. The fire slowed enough
to allow firefighters time to contain it before it reached
homes, and the lower-intensity fire resulted in less severe ecological damage.
Tackling the fuel treatment needs of US landscapes
demands not only workforce investment, but also an increased
funding commitment, cross-jurisdictional planning and cooperation, the honing of targeting and metrics, and additional
assistance to meet landscape restoration needs and help communities prepare for and perform prescribed burns and other
projects. Policymakers at the state and federal levels must
create plans to allocate more funding for fuel treatment, or
risk seeing the problem continue to grow. The US Forest Service needs to embrace a coordination role, directing funding
and staff support work across jurisdictional boundaries. Further, land management agencies must pursue outcome-based
metrics that track the progress made in wildfire risk reduction, including risk to communities, through the application of
fuel treatments and other land management efforts.

The public must understand its role and
take action in reducing wildfire risk.

early 45 million homes currently exist in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) in the US, and more are

built in fire-prone areas across the country every year.
Even so, the majority of homeowners are poorly informed
about wildfire risk and unprepared to take the steps necessary to minimize it, thereby jeopardizing lives, property,
and the local fire departments that respond in wildfire
emergencies.
It is critical that people take action to protect their
homes and communities from wildfire, and that includes
an understanding of the concept of the " home ignition
zone. " Years of scientific research support the practice of
removing fuel sources from the area immediately around
homes, which reduces the risk of home ignition from
embers or radiant heat during wildfire events. These
include simple, low-cost steps such as clearing dead
leaves, debris, and pine needles from roofs and gutters,
keeping grasses mowed, clearing dry vegetation from
the property, and removing stored flammable items from

70,000
The number of
communities at
risk from wildfire
in the US.

33%

Estimate of all
US homes located
in the wildland/
urban interface.

underneath decks and porches. Replacing combustible
roof material and installing double-paned windows reduce
risk even further.
Additionally, people who reside in fire-prone areas must
understand the steps they may need to take in the event
of wildfire, including evacuation. Residents should be
urged to accurately understand their level of risk in these
situations, create evacuation plans, and follow directions
from the proper authorities. The 2016 Chimney Tops 2
Fire in Tennessee killed 14 people and injured more than
200; the National Institute of Standards and Technology
conducted research on the factors that influenced people's
evacuation decisions during the event and found that only
5 percent of survey participants had previously experienced a wildfire evacuation. While less than a quarter of
the respondents reported receiving an official evacuation
warning, the majority of the 14,000 people who finally
evacuated did so only after seeing or being impacted by
flames, embers, and smoke, or when their homes or rental
properties actually caught fire-situations that could
easily have resulted in additional injuries and deaths.
Funding social science research into how these warnings
are delivered, received, and acted upon can help guide
messaging and help prioritize programmatic strategies for
convincing people to take the actions that will save lives
and property.
In 2017 and again in 2018, large, rapidly spreading wildfires in Northern California resulted in shocking numbers
of deaths: 42 in the 2017 fires, and 85 in the 2018 Camp
Fire that destroyed the community of Paradise, where
the average age of the people who died in the fire was
73. Most who perished in Paradise died in their homes
or immediately outside them. These individuals, many of

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NFPA Journal - Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Spring 2021