Welcome to the Firewise Article Archive, a database of previously published articles from the Firewise Newsletter, Wildfire News & Notes and other wildfire and wildland/urban interface sources relating to Firewise Communities. Each article, or posting, is cataloged by the title, author and original publication date.
Currently the Archive contains only the last few years of our publications, but in the months ahead back issues and other stories will be placed into the system. When complete, most articles from 2001 to the current issue of the Firewise Newsletter will be included, as will articles from 1986 to the current issue of Wildfire News & Notes.
Please note that the Firewise Article Archive is different than the Firewise Resource Library. The Library is a separate online database containing a comprehensive catalog of information about the wildland/urban interface including references to a wide variety of publications and multimedia material dating back to the 1970s.
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The classroom portions of the two basic fire training courses needed for qualification as a wildland firefighter can now be taken online, thanks to a cooperative effort between the National Wildfire Coordinating Group and the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy. The two courses, which firefighter trainees traditionally have taken together, are S-130 Firefighter Training and S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior. (more…)
By Glenda Wallace
The youngest person to die in the California Firestorm of 2003 (which ultimately claimed 23 lives, including one firefighter) was a 16-year-old girl named Ashleigh Roach, who was driven through the smoke and flames consuming the oxygen and fuel from her neighborhood that early morning of October 26 by her then 22-year-old brother, Jason, who today is becoming a structural firefighter…while his other sister, Allyson, continues to heal from her burns. They covered 85% of her body. At age 20, she lost all 10 fingers.
Like most Americans, wildland-fire-specialist Bob Mutch heard about the fatal fire siege on the tube. Retired from the USDA Forest Service in 1994, after a 38-year career spent equally in fire research and fire operations, he was consulting on a big blaze in his home state of Montana in the fall 2003. (more…)
Bob Mutch was recently awarded the Fire Safety Award from Chuck Bushey, President of the International Association of Wildland Firefighters (IAWF) during the “Fires of ’88: Yellowstone and Beyond” IAWF conference. Firewise Communities extends our congratulations to Bob for the well deserved award. The following testimonial was provided by the IAWF. (more…)
Operation Water is a program previously available from Firewise Communities in several mediums, offering planning information and resources to ensure adequate water supply and distribution in your region. The national Firewise program is proud to announce Operation Water has been transformed into another media format that of a web based educational program. (more…)
Chief Roper, of Ventura County Fire Department, California, has created a “Wildfire Action Plan” as a public education tool for the citizens in Ventura County. The document asks the questions Leave early? Stay and defend? Information is then provided to the homeowner so that they may consider question before wildfire strikes. The action plan can be downloaded as a PDF document from their web site http://fire.countyofventura.org. The following introduction was taken from the Ventura County Wildfire Action Plan in its entirety.
The fire season is now a year-round reality in Ventura County, requiring firefighters and residents to be on heightened alert for the threat of wildfire throughout the year. Each year, wildfires consume hundreds of homes in the Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI). However, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) estimates that as many as 80 percent of the homes lost to wildfires could have been saved if their owners had only followed a few simple fire-safe practices. In addition, wildfire-related deaths occur because people wait too late to leave their home or prepare inadequately to stay and defend it. (more…)
In 2007, Firewise/USA Communities in the state of Arkansas initiated a grant program for recognized communities to become eligible for $500 mitigation grants as an incentive to reduce community wildland fire risk. In order to receive grant funding communities had to apply for renewal in the Firewise Communities/USA program; provide a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) if one is not on file; complete a project documentation form; volunteer tracking sheets to record time spent on projects; along with a completed grant application form.
(more…)
Silver Star, a suburb of Custer, South Dakota was recently visited to view the progress of the community since being award Firewise Communities/USA recognition in 2003. The Firewise Communities Program mission is to get communities, like Silver Star, involved in protecting their natural surroundings and homes from wildfire and reduce the risk of loss.
“People love the community and nobody wants to lose their home to wildfire. Becoming a Firewise Community/USA gives each homeowner the best chance to protect his or her home should a wildfire occur,” said Judith Leraas Cook, project manager for Firewise Communities USA who visited the community.
Several Firewise practices have been put in place in the Silver Star community including: regular tree thinning on and around properties; incorporating non or limited combustible construction materials on homes; modifying exterior house vents covered with wire mesh to help prevent sparks from entering the home. Also, dead wood and dense vegetation has been cleared at least 30-feet within the home ignition zone and firewood was stacked away from the dwellings. Local firefighters have placed a small cache of firefighting equipment in the middle of the sub-division to help aid in putting out small fires.
“I would encourage other small communities to get involved,” said Richard Efird, homeowner in the Silver Star. “It has given us a focus, and mission statement every year to what needs to be improved on our property.”
Efird further went on to say, “It has been a very positive thing for this community, it has joined us together.”
For more information about Firewise or the Firewise Communities/USA recognition program please visit the website www.firewise.org or the U.S. Forest Service website at www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills.
By Karen Gardner
In his life, Jim Smalley has been many things; among them, an English teacher, a photographer, and a video producer. But none of these roles were his destiny in the way that firefighting has been. The son of a fire chief/ fire prevention expert, Smalley – who is manager of the national Firewise Communities/USA Program of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) – was born during Fire Prevention Week. In addition to his role overseeing the Firewise program, he also is liaison to the technical committees on data exchange and fire service training at the NFPA. “As much as I tried to take a different career path early in my life, fire protection kept pulling me back,” he says. (more…)
A fire starting unintentionally in Liberty, Texas quickly spread towards a dwelling in high heat and light wind conditions. Luckily the owner of the dwelling had worked to reduce his wildfire risk nears his home by; mowing the grass around the home, removing brush, and pruning trees. The P.J. Pearson of the Texas Forest Service is working with homeowners in the area and educating them about Firewise.
Despite these precautions flames spread along short, dried grass toward an occupied manufactured home. The fire department arrived just in time and extinguished the fire with limited damage to the home. According one firefighter who fought the fire, “Conditions were so bad that the fire burning on short grass burned with vengeance. Thirty more seconds and the home would have been destroyed.”
Local crews encouraged the owner to place a gravel base around the home to prevent flame contact to the home, if it occurs again. The fire started from hot slag during a welding operation to repair a fence. The person who started the fire cleared the area around the fence and watered it down, but the heat of the day dried the grass and allowed it to be ignited. A total of 28 acres were burned.
The Firewise Community/USA of Lake Cushman, Washington recently completed a Firewise demonstration project this summer at a high visibility location. Ladder fuels were removed from trees located at the entrance to the community. Not only did the project provide an Firewise discussion point for residents and the local Firewise board, but also improved visibility for vehicles entering or leaving the area. Lake Cushman has been a recognized Firewise Communities/USA community since 2006. To learn more about Lake Cushman and what they are doing visit their excellent web site www.firewise.lakecushman.us.
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