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WildFire
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WildFire
"Living adjacent to a wildland offers spectacular scenery and feelings of serenity. Unfortunately, homes built in wildland/urban interfaces are extremely vulnerable to forest and wildfires. Yet, individuals and developers continue to build in these areas without giving a second thought as to how their homes will fare should a wildfire occur." - HFPA

In the pre-settlement period of North American, fire was a very common phenomenon. One estimate of the wildfire frequency indicates that 4 to 11 percent of our land may have burned on an annual average. 1

Four percent of the lower 48 states is about 75,000,000 million acres. In 1994 the United States Federal government spent more than $1,000,000,000 in wildfire suppression. 32 lives were lost and wildfire crisis headlines were in the media for over a month!

Fire was a very different factor in different ecosystems. For example, in Florida the fire return interval in the Everglade system was estimated as 5 to 10 years, while in the Mangrove system, fire occurred only every 500 to 1,000 years.

After 20 or 30 homes are built around the perimeter of an agricultural section, farmers see their costs skyrocketing as land use conflicts developed. Those that relied on livestock were the first to abandon agriculture. They were driven out by complaints of odor and nuisance, or by livestock losses to dogs, broken fences, or vandals, or by tripled property tax rates. Other farmers soon followed, and the bulk of the land became horse pastures or weed fields. While waiting for other developers to come along the unused land is no longer kept clear, and in dry months becomes a fire hazard.

The lesson is clear. You don't have to urbanize 640 acres to remove a square mile from agricultural production and its relatively cleanliness, you only need to urbanize 20 to 40, providing you scatter it around enough.

There are three sources of ignition which can cause your home and the surrounding area to be burned.

  • Radiant heat exposure to a structure (or its surroundings) will increase it's probably of igniting.
  • Convective heat transfer requires the fire to come in direct contact with the structure.
  • Firebrands -- pieces of burning materials that detach from a fire and are carried by the wind. Severe wildland fires can produce heavy firebrand showers that can travel a mile or more.
When a wildfire occurs the demand on the local fire department is intense. Their first priority if protecting people's lives. Protecting property and resources is secondary. With a large number of structures threatened, the fire department's resources can become overwhelmed. Firefighters have to decide, to choose which structure can be saved. Help improve the fire-fighting effort by making your property a place to effectively battle a blaze. Doing this makes your structure more likely to be chosen to be saved.