NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
The world's wildfire crisis is
the result of a complex variety
of factors.
B
Y NEARLY EVERY METRIC, wildfires are
occurring around the world with more frequency, in more places, and are larger and more
destructive on average than at any time in our
recorded history. Arguments are sometimes made
that attribute the problem almost exclusively to
one factor or another-ineffective or harmful wildfire and land management policies, unchecked
development in fire-prone areas, increased temperatures and prolonged periods of drought-but
the reality is that untenable wildfire conditions
worldwide have reached crisis proportions.
Much of the recent attention has been on the
historic wildfire season underway in California, with
discussions seeking to explain, or in some cases
assign blame for, the state's handling of wildfire in
its forests. While the scale, associated damage, and
expense of California's fires make them impossible to ignore, experts point out that the focus on
"forests" misses the larger concerns of the wildfire
crisis affecting the entire nation. NFPA defines
wildfire as fires occurring in brush, grass, and forest
lands, meaning that the forested foothills of California's Sierra Nevada are just one type of ecosystem
impacted by wildfire. The larger actuality is that
wildfire is a natural phenomenon that affects every
corner of the country, from the wiregrass expanses of
Florida to the New Jersey pine barrens to the rangelands of Texas. According to a 2018 NFPA report, of
the estimated 306,000 brush, grass, and forest fires
in the US that local fire departments responded
to annually from 2011 to 2015, 77 percent involved
brush, grass, or some combination of the two. An
estimated 10 percent involved forests or woods.
The more accurate term here is "fire management," which places the emphasis on the hazard
rather than a specific habitat-and also implies
a cohesive strategy. But cohesion can be difficult
to maintain with wildfire events that can span
vast amounts of land administered by an array
of local, state, and federal agencies. Priorities do
not always align, and resources are frequently
stretched. Pushing resources toward suppression
efforts as fires rage leaves fewer resources to
pursue land management measures such as forest
thinning and other critical mitigation work.
Closely related to management and mitigation
is development, especially in the wildland/urban
interface, or WUI. NFPA defines the
WUI not as a physical space, but rather
as a set of conditions that can pose a
threat to the built environment in the
event of a fire. Communities across the
country have demonstrated a willingness to build in areas they know to be
fire-prone, even after catastrophic fires
have leveled thousands of homes and
other structures. Solutions exist, including stricter regulations on what can be
built where; requirements to build with
fire-resistive materials; and strategies
for communities, counties, and states
to purchase buffer lands that cannot be
developed and can help protect property against wildfire, to name a few. The
question is whether policymakers can
summon the will to enact such steps.
Warming temperatures are also a
factor in our wildfire crisis. Scientific
data have indicated that even a modest
rise in average temperature can dramatically reduce the amount of moisture in
the landscape, especially over prolonged
periods, creating ideal conditions for
fires to ignite, spread rapidly, and burn
with more ferocity. The 2019-2020 fire
season in Australia was an alarming
precursor to the US season; record temperatures and drought periods in some
affected areas contributed to vast wildfires that burned as many as 46 million
acres, by some estimates-more than
five times the likely acres burned this
year in the US. In California, the hottest
August on record corresponded with
the most acres burned on record: more
than 4 million, or nearly half the acres
burned by wildfire nationwide.
While debates abound about why
there is a crisis, more and more communities are burning. If fire-prone
regions want to stem this tide, there
needs to be new approaches to wildfire. The present situation cries out for
moving beyond arguing about causes
and taking action to reduce loss.
Top five warmest years
on record since 1880
2020
2016
2019
2015
2017
(projected)
28 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0
Feature wildfire 11.20 DCS FINAL 11.03.20 (R).indd 28
11/3/20 1:10 PM
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 26
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 27
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 37
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 38
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 39
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 40
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 41
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 42
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 43
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 44
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 45
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 46
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 47
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 48
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 49
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 50
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 51
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 52
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 53
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 54
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 55
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 56
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 57
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 58
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 59
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 60
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 61
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 62
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 63
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 64
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 65
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 66
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 67
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 68
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 69
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 70
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 71
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 72
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 73
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 74
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 75
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 76
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 77
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 78
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 79
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover4
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