A Lessons Learned Newsletter Published Quarterly
Issue 20 • 2007
Wildland
Fire
Lessons
Learned
Center
A lesson is truly learned when we modify our behavior to reflect what we now know.
Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
Lessons Learned
Part 2
Thirteen experienced WUI specialists from federal and state fire agencies and Firewise were recently interviewed regarding their most difficult challenges, most important WUI advice, and WUI training recommendations in wildland urban interface operations and practices. Special thanks are extended to these interagency community members for sharing their
important lessons and practices with the wildland fire community. This is part 2 of a 2 part edition.
Difficult Challeng
Motivating Homeowners to Take Action
Inadequate resources to protect all of the homes within a wildland urban interface community can present a difficult challenge. Although the public relies on firefighters to protect them,
too often, available resources do not allow for complete protection, and
firefighters must have the help of the homeowners. An assessment of
Difficult Challenges ..........................1
homes can help mitigate this challenge by showing homeowners which
homes stand a chance against fire. One national park found success by
Key Advice and Guidance ............... 6
using trained Student Conservation Association (SCA) volunteers during
Training Recommendations ............ 7
the summer. The volunteers use GIS programs that show the houses
and their locations around the Park. These SCA volunteers go around
to all of the homes within an eighth of a mile of the Park’s boundary and
How to Contact Us:
offer residents an analysis of the vulnerabilities of these homes. A [email protected]
to-face conversation between the SCA volunteers and the homeowners
[email protected]
creates a relationship between the two and most homeowners willingly
(520) 799-8760 or 8761
work with the volunteers. Homeowners receive information such as the
fax(520)-799-8785
advantages of switching to a composite roof. Some people are receptive,
In This Iue
Continued on page 2
w w w. w i l d f i r e l e s s o n s . n e t
others not. During
fire suppression operations, firefighters
cannot spend valuable time on homes
that will not survive a
wildfire, and if homeowners do not take the
time to create defensible space, firefighters
prioritize and protect
those homes that have
been made Firewise.
In the event of a fire,
high-risk homes with
unmitigated problems,
are not likely to receive
protection from firefighters because doing
so poses too high of a
risk to the firefighters.
of interest up will always
present a challenge because as we know too
well, interest tends to fall
off after a time.
Assessing Home Vulnerabilities
Courtesy of Alaska Firewise
“It Won’t Happen to Me” Attitude
According to one expert, one of the most difficult challenges we face in the wildland fire community is the
public’s attitude that “it won’t happen to me”, or the perception that “but if it does happen to me, it will only be
once.” For example, Los Alamos, NM experienced the
Cerro Grande fire in 2000. Not long after the fire was
over, residents began to believe that because fire affected them once already, it would not happen to them
again. It is this perception that the wildland fire community continues to struggle with, along with keeping community members engaged in continuing efforts to mitigate WUI problems after an event has occurred. Many
homes in the community of Los Alamos presented perfect ember receptors. In fact, post incident studies have
shown that the majority of homes that burned during the
Cerro Grande Fire succumbed not to a crown fire, but to
ground fire that advanced across surface fuels or from
embers cast from the main fire. The bottom line is that
a wall of flames did not engulf homes, as many people
believe.
So how does the wildland fire community overcome the
perception that, “It can happen here, but if it does it will
only be once?” We have to look for those individuals in
these communities who are ready to engage and are
motivated to solve the problem, which is really to their
benefit. Fire officials in and around the Cerro Grande
fire area have experienced this challenge first hand but
have risen to the occasion taking the Firewise concept
and using it to motivate people within a community to
take the lead and become a kind of “spark plug” to initiate efforts and keep them going. Keeping the level
We in the wildland fire
community will never be
able to completely solve
all the WUI problems, a
lot of which primarily occur outside of our area
of control or jurisdiction.
However, we can create a forum for people to
gather and discuss the
issues confronting them
and provide these people
with information. But in
the end, it will be up to the
homeowner to become
involved, take action and
make a difference.
Agencies Role in “Smart Growth” Committees
North Carolina is experiencing rapid growth in some
parts of the state, and most of the resulting development lacks necessary considerations for fire protection.
For example, subdivisions are built with roads too narrow for fire trucks to negotiate safely. Often, even if the
fire trucks can travel the roads, they cannot turn back
around. Even where roads are adequate to allow fire
trucks to get in and turn around, too often they arrive at
homes constructed with highly flammable material and
no defensible space.
Because of rapid growth, one fire district experienced
a 46 percent increase in their road system during a 90day period. Of course, these new roads access new
homes. Under these conditions, rural fire departments
are “going urban” in a matter of months, often receiving
personnel and apparatus just barely adequate to protect
new residents, leaving the districts to “play catch up.”
To meet this challenge, the State of North Carolina began pushing for the inclusion of state and local fire professionals in the subdivision planning process from the
start of the project. The state also advocates the concept of “Smart Growth” committees. These committees,
in part, address the proposed subdivision’s defenses
against fire, including ingress/egress routes, adequate
water supplies, turn-arounds for fire trucks, and the use
of low flammability construction materials. According to
the state Firewise Coordinator, “It’d be easier if we had
ordinances in place to address these issues because
that way we’d be able to catch it before it became a
problem.”
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Some planners, builders and developers resist fire defensive considerations for economic reasons. For example, widening a road can mean building four or five
fewer homes in the subdivision, cutting into the developer’s profits. Unaware of the risks that some planners and
developers build into subdivisions, most residents never
consider what might happen until a fire burns into their
neighborhood. One NC subdivision, Bay Tree Lakes, provides an effective example. After firefighters suppressed a
fire threatening the subdivision, homeowners became interested in Firewise, implemented many of the program’s
recommendations, and eventually became a Firewise
certified community. In addition, another fire burned into
woodland and eventually threatened two other subdivisions, inspiring the homeowners associations in these two
subdivisions to join in the effort to become Firewise.
Importance of Educating Homeowners
Homeowner education presents the biggest ongoing challenge, often because people just do not know that they live
in a high-risk area. In Hawaii, the islands that make up the
state comprise one big WUI environment, particularly since
a major land ownership shift occurred over the past five to
ten years. During that period, land sales skyrocketed as
large agricultural land holdings were subdivided and sold
as small residential parcels. Before this shift, agricultural
land, primarily sugar cane and pineapple plantations, covered most of Hawaii and the sugar cane plantations maintained fuel breaks. However, as the sugar industry shuts
down, individual landowners are purchasing thousands of
home sites and building on 1-3 acre lots, often with inadequate water supplies to serve this rampant development.
Educating homeowners, particularly new homeowners
coming from the mainland, about defensible space represents a high priority task and presents a continual challenge, particularly since many homeowners know nothing
of local hazard conditions. For instance, they move into an
area with highly flammable invasive species, which also
provide habitat for endangered animals and plants. In this
environment, a single fire can take out an endangered
species.
Overcoming Inevitable Social Collisions
People have called Santa Fe, New Mexico the “City Different” because of the unusual number of varying viewpoints
and the many cultures present in the city that sometimes
collide. The most difficult challenges, social in nature, arise
because people hold a variety of values and attitudes about
vegetation management. Conflict becomes inevitable in
this environment, and the range of opinion can seem quite
large, making listening skills critical. Frustration comes
easily when people do not see eye-to-eye, and therein
lies the challenge. Many times, people believe incorrect
information, or hear what they want to hear. When values
conflict, fire mitigation efforts may come to a standstill. The
only way to overcome this is to listen closely, allow everything to surface, fear not, and begin trying to understand
where others are coming from. This develops trust. When
there is trust, fear begins to drop off. This is also when the
community begins to hear us.
Building Credibility in Firewise Councils
“The FACES of the 2003 Fire Siege is a case study example of how the six critical tasks provide the foundation of
a learning organization. As you read this important report,
it quickly becomes obvious. In his dogged and determined
quest to unearth the answers to so many questions about
how these fires claimed so many people’s lives, Bob Mutch’s
actions and findings epitomize all six of these Organizational Learning characteristics.” To read the full report, go to:
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/FACES.pdf
A Firewise Council will struggle if its members are not influential, empowered to make decisions, and capable of
implementing the program. Unfortunately, in some cases,
cooperating agencies fail to empower the representatives
they send to the Firewise Council. Often one can tell the importance of a Firewise Council to a particular agency by the
level of employee they send to the meetings. If the agency
considers the Firewise Council very important, they send
an employee with the authority to implement commitments
or proposals. When that high-level employee goes back to
their agency with recommendations and action items, the
agency jumps in and the work gets done quickly. Otherwise, if the Council’s work is not a high priority, the agency
representative may not be empowered to act as a catalyst
for change back in their home unit. In these cases, action
will likely happen very slowly, though it may still happen.
One should not expect too much from a Firewise Council at first. Typically, the cooperating agencies have seen
many “councils” come and go. The North Carolina Firewise
Council began its third year in 2007. Its success required
patience and the understanding that it takes some time to
build credibility with the cooperating agencies before they
buy-in. Developing a 5-year action plan gets council members to commit to action items.
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Three Step Approach to Defensible Space
In one Arizona City, one of the larger problems confronting fire officials was convincing residents to create defensible
space around their homes. From 1990 to 2001, the city realized that no matter how well residents understood the need
for defensible space, creating defensible space proved too labor intensive for most homeowners. Success required getting the city defensible, and the agencies had to make it easy for the homeowners. In 2001, the city’s WUI Commission
received National Fire Plan funding, enabling a three-step approach to getting defensible space created on the ground.
1. Community Outreach:
The local fire department does an assessment of every structure in an entire subdivision, and then sends letters to all
homeowners. The letter includes the rating that the house received, why it received that rating, and specific recommendations to improve the rating of their residence.
2. Community Education:
Following the assessment and initial letter, the local fire department approaches the homeowners associations’ to request
a meeting to discuss the homeowners’ WUI issues. At the meeting, fire officials show the results produced by the Red
Zone software to the residents. Because the software produces a visual of what the actual situation is, residents can
relate to it much easier. For more information, view PPT at:
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/Prescott_Backyards_Beyond_2006Presentation.ppt
3. Community Action:
The city fire department employs a Fuels Crew funded half from the city’s budget and half from a State Fire Assistance
(SFA) grant. The Fuels Crew works within the Wildland Division, established by the fire department in 2001. The Department assigns the crew to the residences where homeowners have requested assistance in completing defensible space
requirements, and schedules fuel work throughout the year. Based at the fire department, they provide Type 2 crew
capability during the fire season, and may be called out through ROSS to receive additional fire suppression experience.
In 2007, the crew classification is a T-1 trainee crew, known as the Granite Mountain Hot Shots.
By employing the three-step approach, 25 percent of the city is currently defensible. Initially, estimates showed that it
would take 10 years to get the city defensible, but officials now estimate that it will take 15 to 20 years, primarily because
of the rapid growth the community is experiencing and an underestimation of the work needed to accomplish the goal.
WUI Hazards, Oklahoma
Courtesy of Oklahoma Forestry
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Lake Clark Firewise Program
Courtesy of NPS
A Holistic Approach to Mitigation
Convincing residents that they gain more than they lose by becoming Firewise presents a difficult challenge. Too often,
homeowners think that by creating defensible space, they will lose privacy or sense of nature. However, in reality, thinning vegetation often improves both wildlife habitat and property values. Many developers are now beginning to understand the value of becoming Firewise. However, cookie cutter approaches do not work, and Firewise approaches vary
with each local area, based on local needs and desires.
Fire officials must get people to look beyond obvious or traditional solutions to the problem. The idea that insurance
companies, through premium adjustments, can play a major role in solving WUI issues has proven financially infeasible.
In addition, many fire officials think the secret to success in WUI lies simply with stronger, more comprehensive codes.
Some believe if new, more stringent codes are passed, the problem will be solved. However, code compliance is voluntary, similar to observing the highway speed limit. Codes certainly represent part of the solution to WUI issues, but only
as part of a broader, holistic approach to mitigation.
Keeping Up with Education as Subdivisions
Increase Exponentially
The State of Kansas faces its biggest challenge as
Kansas becomes more subdivided and additional
homeowners live in fire prone areas. Frequently, development is taking place on subdivided lands that were
formerly ranches, where ranchers once burned pasture
fields. With the absence of regular burning, eastern red
cedar encroaches into the subdivided lands. Homeowners like the eastern red cedar because the trees screen
neighboring properties from one another. However, the
fire environment in Kansas now includes exponentially
greater fuel loads. Kansas is overcoming this increasing
urban interface challenge through proactive education,
putting emphasis on educating new subdivision residents as soon as possible. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the local Resource Conservation Districts conduct prescribed fire workshops for
landowners and they strive to increase the number of
workshops each year. The workshops include a section
explaining the ecology of Kansas and information about
specific plant species including eastern red cedar.
Passing a WUI Code for New Construction
Meeting a city’s need for a Wildland Urban Interface fire
code, one that would address buildings and vegetation,
presented a challenge for one Arizona locale. New regulations rarely meet enthusiastic support and when fire
officials introduced the WUI code to the City Council,
they rejected it. Following a major fire in 2002, the fire
department took the WUI fire code before the city again,
and the city adopted the code unanimously in January
2003. The new code does not affect the 14,000 existing
homes in the city, but applies to all new construction;
about 500 new homes per year. The WUI code requires
that all new homes meet the defensible space standard
and be made of fire resistant construction. Initially the
developers did not support the code, citing concerns
that the new code would drive the price of housing up by
$20,000 to $25,000 per home. Experience now shows
that when totaled, the WUI code adds about four to five
thousand dollars to the construction of a new home.
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Avoiding the “Cluster Effect”
Multi-agency response in the WUI presents a large and difficult challenge to overcome. When resources from multiple agencies respond to the same incident, they often arrive with a variety of priorities, often leading to serious confusion on the fire
ground. Several agencies in California have collaborated to overcome the confusion using a twofold approach:
First, the cooperating agencies train together so that they get to know each other and trust one another before a big event.
It is not the time to “get acquainted” when a fire is taking out homes. Because they train together, the cooperating agencies
move into a unified command much more quickly and effectively than groups that have not trained together. Second, in a
multi-agency response, these agencies have found it important to have one incident command post from which the response
is coordinated and from which all resources are ordered. The command post also provides one location to communicate
concerns. For example, law enforcement officers primarily interest themselves with getting people safely evacuated, not with
suppressing the fire. Firefighters want people in safe places so that they can move in to engage the fire, with their first priority
being public safety. It is critical to understand each other’s roles to effectively mitigate the emergency, and the single command
post provides the place to unify goals.
In southern California, residents asked to evacuate often will not leave without their pets and livestock. Therefore livestock
trailers and fire engines come into an area and compete for space on roads already crowded with people trying to evacuate
in their passenger vehicles. Pre-planning for livestock evacuation has proven an important lesson from the 2003 Southern
California Firestorm. Livestock evacuations need to be a part of pre-incident planning.
The other element critical to success is pre-planning for a WUI event. This involves both a multi-agency and multi-discipline
approach. It is important for fire and law enforcement to pre-plan evacuation routes, evacuation procedures and road closures.
Mutual aid fire agencies’ response should be pre-identified along with communication frequencies and unified ordering points
for additional resource requests, which should be discussed to avoid duplication of resource ordering. The more advanced
planning that occurs, the more successful agencies will be when the actual event takes place. For more information on preplanning go to: http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/Parkhill_Area_Wildland_Fire_PrePlan_Overview.doc
Key Advice and Guidance
Managing the Unexpected
Fire agencies want communities to support their programs and help solve the problem, not be the problem.
Therefore, to succeed with WUI prescribed fire projects,
fire officials must work to assure that the public accepts
the need for burning and prepare citizens for the smoke
impacts. Because prescribed burns in the WUI can generate a large volume of smoke close to residential communities, fire officials must note the location of citizens
with respiratory diseases or illnesses and advise them
about upcoming burns, providing them with plenty of time
to make plans to leave the area for a day. Experience
shows that when they know the importance of prescribed
burning in the WUI, residents with respiratory diseases
or illnesses are happy to make themselves comfortable
away from their home for a few hours. Consequently, fire
officials must educate the public so that they understand
why the fire agency conducts the burns.
Familiarization with the Environment
Agency personnel must become intimately familiar with
the local environment so that they understand the hazards they face. Begin by working with homeowners in the
high risk communities to promote Firewise concepts, so
that homeowners have the capacity to reduce risk to their
homes. Make training available to WUI homeowners,
and let them know when the training will occur to provide them with opportunities to understand how and why
homes burn. Assure that the training helps homeowners understand at what point a home becomes ignitable. It helps to let homeowners know that often, it was
not the 100-foot wall of flames that burned the house
down, but an ember that landed on the wooden deck or
on the roof eve where the pine needles lay. One expert
Prescribed Burning Near Acadia NP
Courtesy of Douglas C. Jones
recommends sponsoring workshops for the community
as an interagency effort. For example, Firewise Arizona
works extensively with rural fire departments. For more
information on Firewise Arizona go to:
http://cals.arizona.edu/firewise/index.html
Neighborhood Advocacy
Coming together on the WUI issues, a continuous process, pays off with patience and persistence, and neighborhood advocates prove essential to success. When fire
officials get homeowners to buy-in, residents frequently
become volunteer advocates for the program, helping
their neighbors to understand the importance as well. The
Prescott (AZ) WUI commission presents an excellent example. The entire commission consists of volunteers and
this citizen-led effort works well. An advocacy group like
this commission can obtain grants and transfer funds to
fire departments to get the defensible space work done
on the homes. In cooperation with the commission, the
city developed a community wide protection plan (CWPP)
in 2005. The CWPP is available at:
http://www.regionalinfo-alert.org/
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Understanding Roles
WUI firefighters from every agency must maintain constant awareness of their location in the WUI fire environment, training level, current assignment, and physical
capabilities. Firefighters must concentrate on their job
and not the job of the homeowner. Firefighters do not
have time or the responsibility to move lawn furniture or
piles of wood away from the home, sweep pine needles
away, or pull down gutters. These tasks detract from
firefighters’ situational awareness,
and the homeowner must accomplish these tasks themselves. Survival and safety is paramount. Be
part of the public education process
so that the homeowners accomplish
their responsibilities ahead of firefighter arrival.
Personalizing Firewise
When it comes to Firewise, never
try to go it alone, get the local agencies and community members involved. Encourage people in the
neighborhood to sell the program
and personally deliver the Firewise
message. Brochures just wind up
on the shelf. Every firefighter should
talk about the benefits of defensible
space, and ways to achieve it. The
personal touches get results. Never
use a cookie-cutter approach because it becomes meaningless.
Effective Communication Skills are Essential
People form the crux of everything the fire service does,
whether in the capacity to fight fire, assisting communities
with fire protection issues, or educating the public. People will make or break a program and their perceptions
will define our successes and failures. Consequently,
all fire managers need to develop effective communication skills. Communities must understand the stakes
and where the community’s responsibility lies, from a
fire protection standpoint.
By entering into a discussion about the issues, listening to the public’s concerns, and honoring the
community’s values, we
begin a dialogue that may,
through time, build trust.
It never works to come in
and “bulldoze” the public
with the agency’s agenda.
Communities are very capable of navigating through
complex processes, if given the opportunity. Share
information with them, be
available to assist, and offer guidance; and then get
out of their way and let
them take the wheel.
Be Part of Public Education
Courtesy of
Douglas C. Jones
Training Rommendations
Two Valuable Training Programs
Two programs exist around the country that offer better training than one might find in a book or classroom setting: 1) The
Fire Use Training Academy (FUTA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and 2) the Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) in
Tallahassee, Florida. PFTC classes participate in burns in different parts of the country while working on task books and
training assignments. While some fire personnel feel that this type of training may not provide the same experience as burning on their home unit, in reality they do provide valuable exposure to working around WUI areas, in different fuel types,
fuel models, and topography. Considering that, PFTC and FUTA classes make firefighters well rounded because they get
training in diverse environments. A “Comfort Level 101” class does not exist but these two academies provide great burning
opportunities. Participants immediately see the change and differences they make on the landscape.
New WUI Course
All firefighters need the newly released NFPA course, “Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone,” based on the
work of Jack Cohen, US Forest Service researcher. This two-day workshop covers the myths of WUI fires, the history and
context of WUI fire disasters, case studies, and risk factors in the home ignition zone. It also includes a question and answer
section, class discussions and exercises where participants perform home ignition zone evaluations. Five sessions planned
for 2007 are located at different cities around the US. For more information go to: www.firewise.org/hizworkshop
Teaching the Value of Communication
Training must address the value and importance of communication and engagement with people and communities. One
emphasis might be on the wildland fire service carrying out “community policing” efforts in WUI communities. Such an effort
would help firefighters see how they can advance the agency mission in the WUI. The experience gained and the accomplishments made in communities would benefit firefighters when they face the fire. How great it would be to hear the media
talk about a WUI fire and say “No structures or homes burned because the community took action to mitigate the hazards.”
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WUI Training for Command Level
In the NWCG curriculum, only one WUI tactical course exists, called S-215 Fire Operations in the Urban Interface. The
NWCG curriculum lacks a course addressing WUI at the strategic or command level. CAL FIRE (The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) recently developed a 40-hour course called Incident Management 3 that is required
training for all new Battalion Chiefs. The course focuses on command issues in the WUI such as Unified Command, ICS
Organization, and methods of rapidly expanding operations in a fast-moving WUI incident. Other topics include Resource
Utilization, Air Operations, Safety, Tactics, Wildland, and Structure Defense Pre-Planning. The students spend 6 hours
over 4 days in a simulator commanding a rapidly expanding WUI incident from initial through extended attack. The NWCG
should develop a similar course. In addition, all of the NWCG S series Operation section courses, such as Strike Team
Leader and Division Supervisor, need a unit dealing with WUI at the tactical or strategic levels, depending on the course
level. To view a PowerPoint designed as an enhancement for instructors who teach courses in which wildland urban interface command concepts are presented, go to: http://www.wildfirelessons.net/SearchResults.aspx?Type=3 .
WUI Simulation Training
One aspect of training needing improvement is that NWCG training could better incorporate more simulations into the
curriculum. North Carolina experiences a fire cycle, with years of low fire occurrence. Personnel who join agencies during
these times of low fire occurrence fail to get the experience they need, in order to learn how to be effective as firefighters.
Training simulations help close this gap. NC state staff trainers take training simulations right to the fire districts. In these
training simulations, the trainers put an aerial photograph of a local subdivision or community up on a screen, providing
information for a simulated event. Trainers then ask participants “what are you going to do?” The district personnel plan
their response based on the conditions and the picture, the trainers review the participants’ decisions and then discuss the
best options for success with them. This low-cost training tool assists many fire district personnel in filling their knowledge
gaps before a critical event.
 
Picnic Rock Fire
Photo provided by the BLM
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