Risk Reduction
Authored By: J. Barker
The main strategies for the reducing the risks of wildfires and damage from them are:
- hazardous fuel reduction
- implementation of programs and standards for risk reduction
In the expanding wildland urban interface, developers can reduce fire risks by following appropriate design standards, building well-marked roads, and insuring that there is an adequate water supply. It is also essential that there are nearby well-equipped fire departments and well-trained firefighters.
Builders and individual homeowners can reduce fire risks by using nonflammable siding and roofing materials, improving structure placement and design, incorporating defensible space between structures and wildland fuels, and appropriate low-flammable landscape materials.
Subsections found in Risk Reduction
- Risk Reduction Programs and Standards : National standards for creating low fire risk conditions in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) have primarily come through the NFPA and Firewise Communities Program. Those standards are then implemented through various state or local programs that promote
- Hazardous Fuel Reduction : Fuel management modifies the hazard posed by vegetation and structures by: reducing the available fuel (dead and living) in broad areas through prescribed fires or other methods; creating defensible space by converting the vegetation to a less-flammable type and distribution that is less hazardous
Encyclopedia ID: p282
