Fire Break – Wildfire Safety Blog

'Talk to the hand' and learn your state's progress in the Firewise Challenge

1,000 Safer Places:  the Firewise Challenge

As published earlier this year, the National Fire Protection Association through the national Firewise Communities/USA support program is promoting the Firewise throwdown to challenge states and communities to reach for our national goal of 1,000 recognized Firewise Communities/USA® sites by the end of 2013. To learn more about this challenge and to monitor our nation's progress through the rest of the year please ‘talk to the hand’.

Fire agencies empower citizens to take action before the smoke

City of Bend Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshal Susie Maniscalco teamed up with the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) to conduct a wildfire safety workshop for local homeowners and fire agency folks to better understand what risk homeowners and first responders will face this coming summer, and how to take action now to minimize the consequences of uncontrolled wildfire.

This workshop was planned to kick off the 16^th Annual FireFree Events to take place in April and May where fire agencies target homeowners and their neighborhoods to reduce their vegetation and fuels on their property before the smoke from wildfire is in the air. 

The Flagship FireFree Program is now sponsored by the Deschutes County FireSafe Council called “Project Wildfire.” This event allows residents to start working in their yard and cleaning their roofs and gutters.  All citizens are allowed to take their vegetation debris to local reception sites in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook Counties at no cost to the homeowner.  Each year the collection sites gather more than 30,000 cubic yards of debris.

ODF Instructor Tom Andrade did an outstanding job of keeping the workshop participants engaged by explaining the history of wildfire and what a “natural” and a “healthy” forest actually are.  Tom also explained the fire science with help of the USDA Research Scientist Jack Cohen’s publications and NFPA’s video productions of how it is the little things around the home that can spread a wildfire to the home, and not the big flame front that the media often portrays.  Tom also explained Oregon’s 1997 SB 360 Legislation that requires property owners in ODF protected areas to reduce personal risk.

Kris Babbs, ODF’s National Fire Plan Coordinator and Oregon’s Firewise Liaison presented how the Firewise Communities/USA Recognition Program can be incorporated into every neighborhood using the FireFree event as their annual Firewise Day. Kris showed how the whole neighborhood can get involved with wildfire safety and instead of a row of homes becoming a statistic from a wildfire how they can become an actual fuel break using Firewise principals to slow or actually stop the fire. Kris said “a home can be in multiple Home Ignition Zones and we can slow the fire by changing the fuel component,” “this is why it is important to get your neighbors involved with Firewise”.

After lunch Tom finished his presentation with a field trip local to a neighborhood to put the classroom knowledge into practical application. Participants then can used classroom knowledge and applied it with a “hands-on” approach to give them confidence when conducting their home or neighborhood Firewise assessment.

Now is the time to take action, before the smoke is in the air.  What action you take today may save your home tomorrow!

Communities coordinate amazing project ideas for upcoming Wildfire Preparedness Day of Service

As the calendar gets closer to NFPA’s pilot Wildfire Preparedness Day of Service being held in Colorado Saturday, May 4, the number of coordinated volunteer projects continues to grow and interest is exceeding all expectations. 

The day of service was created as a focused effort to increase awareness and preparedness activities, while encouraging and empowering residents living in areas with a wildfire risk to participate in a project at their own home, neighborhood, or on a wider community scale.  It’s being targeted and promoted to residents of all ages with a special emphasis on youth – and what they can do to make their community a safer place.  To accommodate the inclusion of teens, in what is often considered adult work activities, a broad-range of age appropriate project ideas was created that doesn’t require the use of a chipper or power tools.  The array of projects range from activities that can be easily accomplished in under an hour, to some that could take an entire day; with options for individuals, a family, or even larger groups. 

Projects being planned include a wide span of activities that were uniquely and creatively developed by individuals, home owner groups, or partner agencies and non-profits to meet the needs of their community.  A sampling of the projects includes:  removing fuels from around a national historic landmark, creating a fuel break along an evacuation route, filling sandbags for an elementary school exposed to potential mud slides from a recent burn area, to a high school girls soccer team working with firefighters to distribute educational information, and a Red Cross young professionals group doing mitigation activities in a popular open space area.

Participants are encouraged to post their project ideas, photos, and short videos of their efforts on the Firewise Facebook page.  To get more info visit the Day of Service section on our website.

As an additional bonus, promoting the campaign with colleagues from partner programa and agencies with a similiar mission has been beneficial and productive,  It truly speaks volumes about the power of collaboration and demonstrates that by working together we have the ability to maximize our outreach power.

I can’t wait to share post-project stories with you in early May!

New NFPA resource offers wildfire planning and regulatory guidance

There are many audiences that NFPA reaches out to: homeowners, foresters, community leaders, fire practitioners, and development professionals.  In recent years we have made a special push to work with this last category – particularly planners and regulators.  Although this group is sometimes overlooked because they aren’t seen as a traditional audience for addressing wildfire concerns, their potential role is significant. As preferences for second homes and suburban lifestyles increase, so does the wildland-urban interface.  Planners and regulators are in a unique position to address development through regulations and better site planning that consider wildfire hazard. 

To further encourage the involvement of planners and regulators in addressing the wildland-urban interface, NFPA contracted with Clarion Associates, LLC, a national land use planning and law firm, to create a best practices guide, “Community Wildfire Safety Through Regulation.”  This guide is designed to help planners and local communities considering wildfire regulations better understand their options and implement a successful public process to adopt effective wildland-urban interface tools that match local needs. 

A free PDF copy is now available.  Download your copy today, and get sound technical advice and legal justifications for adoptions of wildfire regulations, tips on what planners should do before the community embarks on a formal wildfire safety regulation adoption process, and appropriate community tools to address wildfire risk.  

Wildfire safety presented at NFPA’s conference & expo

Each year NFPA’s Conference & Expo travels to some pretty cool venues. This year, we’ll be in Chicago June 10 – 13 at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Will you be there? Noted as the premier event in fire and life safety, C & E offers more than 150 educational sessions and an exhibit hall filled with more than 300 product and service experts willing to share their knowledge and help solve your challenges.

While wildfire specifically isn’t the focus of NFPA’s conference, there are still a handful of really great WUI sessions, in addition to a number of fire and life safety tracks we think you’d be interested in, including codes and standards, fire and emergency services, fire suppression, loss control and prevention, public education and more. 

One of the wildfire sessions we hope to see you at is “Wildfire in the Built Environment; A Case Study of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire in Colorado Springs” on Monday, June 10 at 8.00 a.m.  The other noted session is “Bushfire and Community Safety in Australia” also on Monday, June 10 at 9.30 a.m.

In addition, you may have read Molly Mowery’s Journal column calling for more accountability for disabled populations when planning for wildfire. If you're interested in this topic, there’s a great session on Wednesday called “Improving Fire and Life Safety for People with Disabilities” that you might want to check out.

Want to know more? Take a look at NFPA’s conference blog, which includes more in-depth information, as well as activities and general interest pieces on the Windy City. Our keynote speaker this year is Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the best-selling Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film, Lincoln. It's a presentation you definitely don't want to miss. 

Early bird registration ends April 26 so now's the time to secure your space for a few days of fire and life safety education in Chicago.

We hope to see you there!

 

Barometer Bob to discuss Firewise, live, online April 11

 

Join Michele Steinberg, manager of NFPA's Firewise Communities Program, for a live interview on Thursday 11 April at 8:00 PM (EST)! 

Michele will talk to Barometer Bob about the importance of incorporating Firewise principles into your wildfire mitigation activities, and she’ll also discuss the process for becoming a recognized Firewise Communities/USA site!

Listen to the live interview on Thursday 11 April at 8:00 PM EST. 

As the U.S. braces for wildfire season, it’s important for homeowners now more than ever, to be prepared ahead of a wildfire threat. You can learn how by visiting the Firewise website at www.firewise.org.

And don’t forget to check out our handy homeowners checklist, which puts these simple yet effective steps at your fingertips … download it, print it out and tape it to your fridge. Keep wildfire safety tips always at the ready. Find it at: http://firewise.org/information/firewise-toolkit.aspx

Fire Adapted Communities Coalition releases Waldo Canyon Fire report and video

The Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) Coalition has released a report, “Lessons from Waldo Canyon” and companion video, “Creating Fire Adapted Communities: A Case Study from Colorado Springs and the Waldo Canyon Fire.” Both the video and report are available on the Fire Adapted Communities website.

In the wake of the June 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire that destroyed 345 homes and resulted in the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents from the City of Colorado Springs, CO; members of the Fire Adapted Communities Coalition visited the area to learn how the city’s decade-long wildfire safety programs had affected the outcome of the fire. The report and video are the result of interviews, field visits and tours of the city’s most affected neighborhoods during a three-day postfire visit in July 2012.

Pam Leschak, WUI/Fire Adapted Communities program manager for the USDA Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management shared that, “To a large extent, the mitigation tools used by the Colorado Springs Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Section for the past 10 years, mirror the recommendations of the Fire Adapted Communities program.  The findings of the report conclude that damage as a result of the Waldo Canyon Fire would have been more wide-spread if these practices had not been implemented.”

With support from the U.S. Forest Service, the mitigation assessment team was comprised of representatives from the FAC Coalition including the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with invaluable assistance from CSFD’s Fire Marshal Brett Lacey and the department’s Wildfire Mitigation Section.    

For more information about Fire Adapted Communities visit http://www.fireadapted.org/.

 

 

 

Finding the 'sweet spot' amidst key elements of the National Cohesive Strategy

In response to requirements of the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement (FLAME) Act of 2009, the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) directed the development of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Stategy).

As a part of this process and after public review, all three regions (west, southeast and northeast) have submitted their action plans to the WFLC for review. The Plans will be reviewed and considered for concurrence at the April 5, 2013, WFEC meeting. It is important to note Fire Adapted Communities is one of the main elements that is emphasized throughout the draft plans.  Wildfire mitigation strategies like Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP), Firewise Communities/USA and Ready, Set, Go! programs feature prominently in support of this overarching approach.

Image:  Finding the 'sweet spot'; key elements of the National Cohesive Strategy

Read the March issue of Fire Break - NFPA's wildland fire newsletter

The March issue of Fire Break, NFPA’s wildland fire newsletter, is now available for viewing. In this issue, you’ll find: 

• A New York Times article that links the current drought problem to the nation’s increased wildfire activity
• A creative list of wildfire mitigation activities for individuals, groups and communities
• Information about a campaign that targets automobiles in an effort to reduce wildfire ignitions
• A link to a study that focuses on the importance of fuel reduction treatments in offsetting the growing costs of wildfire suppression activities
• An update on an NFPA roundtable discussion focused on improving data reporting for wildland fires 

 … And lots more! We want to continue to share all of this great information with you so don’t miss an issue! Subscribe today. It’s free! Just click here to add your email address to our newsletter list.

Getting emergency planning right, for everyone

Last summer, the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado prompted the evacuation of more than 30,000 people in the region. A month after the fire was contained, a pair of local organizations that support people with disabilities, The Independence Center and the Rocky Mountain ADA Center, held a public forum and conducted online surveys to collect information on accessibility barriers encountered during the fire.

Their report, “Summary of Findings: Waldo Canyon Fire Forum for People with Disabilities” highlights issues that arose, and offers suggestions from people with disabilities on how to better plan for emergencies. In the latest issue of NFPA Journal, Molly Mowery explores this challenge, and highlights the report in her latest Wildfire Watch column. 

Read Molly's full column.

Additional fire safety information and education materials for people with disabilities can be found on NFPA's consumer safety page. Check out their latest issue of E-Access, a bi-monthly newsletter designed to help reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life for people with disabilities. There's also an emergency evacuation planning guide, videos, checklists and much more.