NFPA: Wildfire Safety

Thursday, April 11, 2013

NFPA: Wildfire Safety

The Firewise Communitiesprogram encourages local solutions for wildfire safety by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, firefighters and others. Firewise is a program of NFPA and co-sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, the US Department of the Interior and the National Association of State Foresters.

NFPA, The US Forest Service and a coalition of wildland fire safety agencies are collaborating on an initiative to promote Fire Adapted Communities, a concept designed to provide citizens with information and resources to enable them to collaboratively reduce their wildfire risk.

Wildland fires are a serious threat to lives and property in the U.S. The combination of drought, warmer temperatures, high winds and an excess of dried vegetation in forests and grasslands has made fire seasons progressively worse over the past fifty years.

In the past decade, wildfires have burned over 59 million acres of these lands. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), 2012 saw one of the worst fire seasons in decades, with over nine million acres burned. Decreasing fire risk in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) is a huge challenge, but NFPA's Wildland Fire Operations Division continues to work with organizations around the globe and across the country to raise awareness of and provide resources to communities to help them lower their risk of damage from wildfire.

A Case Study from Colorado Springs and the Waldo Canyon Fire
The Fire Adapted Communities Coalition has released a report, "Lessons from Waldo Canyon” and this companion video. Learn more about Fire Adapted Communities.

NFPA's latest news about wildland fires

Which mulch is the right mulch? Research on mulch and fire helps you decide!
Spring is almost here and time to get out and start doing some yard work. As I stand in front…
Barometer Bob to discuss Firewise, live, online April 11
Join Michele Steinberg, manager of NFPA's Firewise Communities Program, for a live interview on Thursday 11 April at 8:00 PM…
Fun with Firewise in Yuba, Oklahoma!
Fun with Firewise in Yuba, Oklahoma! Thanks to Kelly Hurt, Oklahoma Firewise Liaison, for passing on this flye

CFN - California Fire News 2013

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Thursday, April 11, 2013