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Planning for Wildfires

Report Focuses on Mitigating Wildfire Damage

More people are choosing to live in fire-prone wildlands than ever before. What precautions are necessary for residents to successfully coexist with nature in such a hazardous context? The American Planning Association's 2005 report, Planning for Wildfires (PAS 529/530), written by James C. Schwab, AICP, and Stuart Meck, FAICP, examines the feasibility of permitting development in fire-prone areas and how best to design such developments to reduce the risk of damage and loss.

"Wildfire mitigation is extremely important because wildfires are very much a people-triggered hazard, in ways that do not apply to hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes," said Schwab, APA senior research associate. "Wildfires also can trigger other serious disasters such as landslides, when rains sweep soil down hills denuded of vegetation."

Wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity as more people move into areas where developments meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildlands. The buildup of fuels, the previous wildfire strategy of total suppression, historic settlement patterns, and population growth, all contribute to increasing the potential and risk for wildfires. Almost any state can be the scene of a wildfire with the right fuels, the right weather, and a source of ignition.

To help mitigate wildfire damage, Schwab and Meck stress the need for a combined effort from local, state, and federal governments, fire agencies, and residents. "There is no one single approach to dealing with wildfires. Everyone shares in the responsibility to mitigate wildfire damage," said Meck, a former APA senior research fellow, now director of the Center for Government Services at Rutgers University. "This includes implementing development design standards to help mitigate fire damage, and engaging and educating residents on their role in preventing wildfire damage."

The extent of wildfire destruction depends on a number of development decisions, including building design, subdivision design, landscaping and land-use regulations, and management of biological fuel loads. Planners and communities need to examine the risks presented in new development proposals.

More communities are now shifting their focus from responding to disasters to mitigating the impact beforehand through community plans and ordinances. The authors reviewed numerous wildfire mitigation community plans and ordinances and highlight several effective plans and ordinances in the report.

The authors note that regardless of the progress communities are making toward mitigating wildfire destruction, all of the plans reviewed lack a clearly delineated relationship to the community's local comprehensive plan. "The local comprehensive plan sets up the overall physical design for the community, including the location of housing, community facilities, transportation, and the intensities and densities of land uses," Meck said. "Wildfire planning can't be at cross purposes with the chief development policies of the community."

"Planners play an integral role in developing communities that foster a safe and enriching environment for residents," said Schwab. "This report should serve as a guide to planners, communities, and residents, to work together to reduce or possibly eliminate the risk associated with wildfires."

Planning for Wildfires was underwritten by the National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Program, a cooperative interagency program operated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).