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FIRE ADAPTED COMMUNITIES

FAC WHAT IS IT?

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Definition of a Fire Adapted Community (Human) Source: 2009 Quadrennial Fire Review Report

Definition: A community of prepared and responsible citizens, living within a fire prone environment, that has taken the necessary actions to transform itself so that it can safely co-exist with wildfire over the long-term.

ADAPTING COMMUNITIES TO

WILDFIRE

NOT A PROGRAM, AWARD RECOGNITION PROGRAM

OR INITIATIVE, RATHER

A STRATEGY AND PHILOSOPHY

REDUCING WILDFIRE RISK IN WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE

COMMUNITIES

THE GOAL OF FIRE ADAPTATION IS A COMMUNITY AND LARGER LANDSCAPE THAT CAN LIVE SUCCESSFULLY AND SAFELY WITH WILDFIRE

ON THE LAND.

PART OF THE COHESIVE STRATEGY

FIRE ADAPTED COMMUNITIES AND THE NATIONAL COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy is a strategic push to work collaboratively among all stakeholders and across all landscapes, using best science, to make meaningful progress towards the three goals:

• Resilient Landscapes

• Fire Adapted Communities

• Safe and Effective Wildfire Response

COMMUNITIES ADAPTING TO WILDFIRE NEED ALL THREE ELEMENTS OF THE COHESIVE STRATEGY. A resilient landscape in and around the community Community fire adaptation practices to reduce risk Local ability to respond to wildfire

•Residents are aware of and willing to implement Ready, Set, Go. •Local fire suppression forces have skills, equipment and capacity. •Residents and local fire agencies understand suppression and response capability and expectations.

•Land owners know property fuels threats and have mitigated. •Structures are as ignition resistant as possible. •Community has fuel reduction zones and internal safety zones.

•Local government has effective land use planning and regulation, including building codes and local ordinances .

•Individuals accept personal responsibility for their property.

Characteristics of

a FAC

HOW TO DO IT HIGHEST RISK AREAS FIRST

LOCAL AWARENESS OF RISK AND VALUE OF FIRE ALL HANDS, ALL LANDS

COMMUNITY-LEVEL COALITIONS PERSON-TO-PERSON RELATIONSHIPS

SHARED ENGAGEMENT, NOT MESSAGING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

TRACK AND SHARE SUCCESSES

FAC TOOL BOX

CWPP(S):

Community Wildfire Protection Plans

A blueprint for risk reduction

Local

Multi-Jurisdictional

Coalitions

• Fire knows no boundaries • All hand/all lands partnership • One organization, one sparkplug can’t do it all or keep it going • Stakeholders share the mitigation responsibility

Safe Evacuation Routes or Internal Safety Zones

Evacuation Simulations

Ready, Set, Go!

The RSG! Program tenets help residents be Ready with preparedness understanding, be Set with situational awareness when fire threatens, and to Go, acting early when a fire starts.

Defensible Space and Home Hardening

• Starts at front door and moves to the forest

• Most fires start from ember incursion

• Modify landscape – Firewise concepts

• Address ladder fuels

Codes and Ordinances

Help larger communities address where and how homes are built. Smaller communities may not have the capacity to develop, implement, and enforce.

Public and Responder

Awareness/Action

Know about fuels, how to mitigate risk and be ready to respond or evacuate.

Hazardous

Fuel Treatments

Public and private land owners (big and small) manage fuels on their lands.

Prevention Education

• Prevention = Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Administration. • A wildfire prevented saves lives and resources. • Time and funds saved can be put into cost of mitigation and hazardous fuels reduction.

Local

Capacity

People, tools and passion to take action.

THE CONCEPT

Community fire

adaptation

CWPP

local multi-jurisdictional

coalitions

safe evacuation routes or internal safety zones

community-wide defensible space and resilient structures

codes & ordinances

public and responder awareness and action

hazardous fuels management in and near communities --

fuels buffer

prevention education

local capacity

LESSONS LEARNED MOVING FROM MESSAGING TO MITIGATION

LOCAL COALITIONS SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MITIGATION

GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE TABLE

MESSAGING, MEETINGS, AND LITERATURE = AWARENESS OF RISK

SUSTAINED ONE-ON-ONE PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT = ACTION TO MITIGATE

ASK: WILL WHAT I’M DOING REDUCE WILDFIRE RISK?

HOW CAN I MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EFFORT?

ACTIVE LOCAL MITIGATION COALITION

GUIDANCE ON BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT

LOCATIONS RELATIVE TO WILDFIRE RISK

CWPP THAT IS UP TO DATE AND

IMPLEMENTED

DEFENSIBLE SPACE AROUND

STRUCTURES

FIRE RESISTENT BUIILDING

CONSTRUCTION

SAFE ZONES AND EVAC ROUTES

PREVENTION, SMOKE, FIRE AND RX

BURN VALUE EDUCATION

ACTIVE COMMUNITY AND FIRE DEPARTMENT

DEDICATED TO WILDFIRE RISK REDUCTION

HAZ FUEL TREATMENTS ON

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS

THE FIRE ADAPTATION CYCLE IT’S A CONTINUAL JOURNEY CHARACTERIZED BY CONSTANT MAINTENANCE. IT’S NOT A RECOGNITION PROGRAM, IT’S A WAY OF LIVING IN YOUR FIRE PRONE ENVIRONMENT. ONE IS NEVER ENOUGH. THE MORE FIRE ADAPTATION ACTIONS THE COMMUNITY TAKES (AND MAINTAINS) THE SAFER/MORE ADAPTED IT WILL BE. WILDFIRE RISK REDUCTION SAVES HOMES, COMMUNITIES, AND RESOURCES BUT IT CAN ALSO SAVE FIREFIGHTER LIVES BY PROVIDING A SAFER PLACE AND MORE DECISION SPACE FOR SUPPRESSION ACTION.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLESCHAK@FS.FED.US

WILDLANDFIRERSG.ORG FIREADAPTEDNETWORK.ORG

USFA.FEMA.GOV/WUI_TOOLKIT FIREWISE.ORG

LIVINGWITHFIRE.INFO COMING SOON: THE COMMUNITY MITIGATION

ASSISTANCE TEAM LESSONS LEARNED PAGE.