Fuel Mitigation Matters
One of my reoccurring themes has been the “Wildland Urban Interface,” or WUI, sometimes called the “fringe.” WUI is an acronym that classifies where the human-built environment either surrounds, or merges, into expanses of continuous flammable vegetation. It cuts two ways, exploding in both extent and population, from people fleeing large populated cities and suburbs out into less populated “wilds,” or toward cities, as historically rural populations migrate to enjoy urban amenities and employment opportunities. Either direction constitutes a growth in population increasingly in contact with wildland fire potential.
Beyond more people on the landscape, we have the added factor of rising temperatures and increasingly highly variable precipitation patterns. During the 20th century, the world experienced nearly a 1°F increase in average temperatures. It has been “best estimated” that during this century, the world may see an additional 3-7°F increase in global temperatures. These climatic trends, while locally variable, have been suggested as contributing to greater wildland fire potential and intensity. Some localities that once had distinct wildland fire seasons now experience nearly year-round fire danger. Logically, more people in the WUI and increased fire potential result in greater opportunities for human-caused ignitions to occur.
Then, there is the growing challenge of a changing “fuel-scape.” In some forested areas of the world where fire was previously a naturally reoccurring feature, we have experienced increasing live and dead biomass — more fuel. Where people have abandoned the rural landscape for more urban environments, those previously cultivated and grazed areas have begun vegetation succession toward increased grass and woodlands.
Not all increases in fuel load can be classified as hazardous, but those adjacent to where people have built their homes make fires much more difficult to suppress than before. Some of these changing fuel-scapes have seen large wildland fires in recent history, with major impacts on WUI. Other areas have a fire history that remains unknown or ignored by their new WUI inhabitants. With more people in the WUI, increasing ignition prospects, and changing fuel availability and continuity, the opportunity for wildfire disaster grows.
For years, I have advocated for increased fuel mitigation and education programs for inhabitants of WUI. Such programs educate and help residents to begin their own personal fuel mitigation efforts and to discover ways to increase the external resistance to fire of their buildings. However, these efforts cost money, and in these times of budgetary-reduction decisions, fuel mitigation seems to be an easy budget line item to target.
I believe such cost reduction decisions are shortsighted. Mitigation programs go to where some of the most hazardous areas are — where the greatest costs in suppression occur and where people, the built environment and wildland intermingle. Fuel education and mitigation programs are proactive, and I believe Ben Franklin's quote — “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” — works especially well in emergency management. We have numerous fire examples where fuel mitigation efforts around homes have worked. For budget-conscious politicians and bureaucrats, the cutting of education and fuel mitigation moneys or shifting to other programs could seem expedient — it's not their lives on the fireline. But at some point, it might be their son's or daughter's life on the fireline, or their own WUI home.
In the long run, I suggest that potential fuel mitigation budget-reduction decisions in the WUI will result in increased suppression costs and reduced firefighter and civilian safety. Ultimately, it is the WUI residents' responsibility to make sure their fuel-scapes are modified and maintained so the potential for wildland fire behavior is diminished. Our role is to proactively advise and inform through prevention messaging and example. The IAWF's upcoming Global Wildfire Awareness Week October 1-7 for the Southern Hemisphere continues to emphasize this with the theme, “Your Home, Your Responsibility” for protecting lives and homes.
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