NFPA Journal - September/October 2020 - 50

Wildfire by Michele Steinberg

THE VIEW
FROM NFPA'S
WILDFIRE DIVISION

Giant Step
A GOVERNMENT-LED EFFORT RESULTS IN A POWERFUL NEW ONLINE TOOL TO HELP
COMMUNITIES EVALUATE-AND ACT ON-THEIR WILDFIRE RISK

hat if you knew your com-

making changes in their own home ignimunity had a greater risk
tion zone.
from wildfire than most
The site's interactive array of facts and
of the cities and towns
stats, backed by extensive fire science and
in your state? What if
geospatial data, succeeds in its goal of
you could see how many people in your
helping users understand and explore
town are especially vulnerable? Would
risk. Risk to homes is portrayed as a relyou want to know how to reduce your
ative scale, with wildfire consequence on
risk and help your neighbors, your cusone axis and fire likelihood on the other.
tomers, or your constituents? A new,
The risk rating assumes that all homes
user-friendly tool can now help you do
are equally susceptible to damage, so
just that.
it does not account for any homes that
The online Wildfire Risk to Commuhave might been mitigated, but provides
nities (wildfirerisk.org) platform was
a more generalized snapshot of risk.
Rather than allow the
born earlier this year out of an act of the
Whether viewing a community, county,
perfect to be the
115th Congress. Buried deep within the
or state, users get a clear picture of risk
enemy of the good,
891-page Consolidated Appropriations
to homes, relative exposure to flames and
as the saying goes,
Act of 2018 are a few brief sentences that
embers, and wildfire likelihood.
have resulted in an effective new way to
For community leaders and fire manthis effort represents
evaluate and act upon wildfire risk inforagers, the information on vulnerable
a significant step
mation. In that bit of verbiage, Congress
populations-the number and percent
toward a better
directed the Secretary of Agriculture, via
of families in poverty, people with disunderstanding of
the Chief of the USDA Forest Service, to
abilities, older adults, those who have
wildfire risks.
take no more than two years to create
difficulty with English, and households
a geospatial map of the United States
without cars-is critically important in
depicting wildfire hazard severity and
planning for evacuation and directing
to ensure it was distributed on the web.
pre-fire resources to those most in need.
The goal was to help at-risk communities improve their underAs the developers of the site acknowledge, and as wildfire
standing of their risk profile, clarify thinking on the nature and safety practitioners and researchers know, there are limitations
effect of wildfire risks, and develop plans to manage those risks. to the data, and gaps in our global knowledge and understandThe Wildfire Risk to Communities website is all that Con- ing of wildfire, including the risk to homes. But rather than
gress ordered, with whipped cream and a cherry on top. The allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, as the saying
project marshalled known data, statistics, and proven mitiga- goes, this government-led effort represents a significant step
tion resources, including NFPA's wildfire safety information, toward better understanding of community wildfire risks. The
to reach community leaders, fire managers, and people at risk tool holds great promise in clearly communicating risk and
with easy-to-use information that can motivate planning and what individuals and communities can do about it, supported
risk-reduction actions. It helps people understand wildfire by decades of research and the best currently available inforrisk-the probability of fire occurrence and the intensity of mation. As the site is updated and enriched over the coming
the expected fires, overlaid on the built environment. Users months with feedback from users, its potential uses in changing
can compare their relative risk-to-homes level to other cities, wildfire outcomes will only grow.
counties, or states. Finally, it provides a rich array of resources
and programs for users to begin to reduce risk, starting with MICHELE STEINBERG is director of the wildfire division at NFPA.

MICHAEL HOEWELER

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http://www.wildfirerisk.org

NFPA Journal - September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2020