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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On January 6th,, 2008 the Firewise Communities/USA program coordinators, the national Firewise management team, representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation, and the staff of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) joined together in Quincy, MA to mark the 320th recognized Firewise Community/USA in the United States. Firewise Program Manager Jim Smalley provided a retrospective of the Firewise Communities program that started in earnest in 1986 and the Firewise Communities/USA recognition program starting as a pilot program in 2001/2002 and has spread to 36 states with more than 367,000 people investing more than $20 million “choosing to make a difference in their communities by protecting their property and themselves from the affects of wildfire.” (more…)
By Glenda Wallace
Every resident of a wildland community or area ought to know exactly HOW and WHY his or her home could burn in wildfire. And even more important, they need to how “the little things that they do can make big differences” in preventing home loss and community disaster.
So say instructors of a two-day workshop training series called Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ). (more…)
During the wildfires that stormed through Southern California in the latter half of 2007, the national Firewise team spent many hours speaking with the national press corps about wildfire and the wildland urban interface problem as media interest grew. During these interviews several of the team members were quoted in print media, television interviews and also the radio including several spots with National Public Radio (NPR). (more…)
Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas is a special place - an unforgettable place - named for the legend of Petit Jean … the story of a French girl who disguised herself as a boy and secretly accompanied her sweetheart, an early explorer, to the New World and to this mountain according to park literature.
Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas’s first and flagship state park enhances this 300-year-old legend with windswept views, enchanting woodlands laced with streams and wildflowers, and the spectacular Cedar Falls.
David Samuel, Firewise Coordinator for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, states “of all the Arkansas State Parks I have visited this one presents the highest risk from wildland fires.” Samuel further added, “The Mather Lodge was threatened by a wildland fire during the extremely dry summer of 2000, with evidence from the fire still visible at the west end.”
Although most of the park is heavily forested many of the structures, including 11 homes located within its boundary are at risk. It was this risk that prompted Samuel and members of the Parks management staff to consider Firewise and the Firewise Communities/USA recognition program to help protect these homes and other park buildings. (more…)
Throughout the country, the National Firewise Communities Program is recognizing outstanding individuals and organizations for their leadership in promoting a cooperative approach to reducing the loss of lives, property, and resources in the wildland/urban interface.
The recipients were awarded the national Firewise Leadership Award based on their innovative approach to community wildfire education and preparation in their region. These leaders not only helped their communities reduce the threat of wildfire, but did so using creative strategies and, in some cases, against great challenges. (more…)
Fire Corps and the Firewise Communities program partnered to develop a Firewise toolkit. Getting Started with Firewise provides information about building and maintaining communities in a way that is compatible with our natural surroundings and can be used by Fire Corps teams across the nation to help protect property and natural resources from the threat of wildland fires. The toolkit contains samples of brochures, booklets, DVD’s and other material you can use in community outreach efforts on wildfire safety. It also includes a more detailed description of the materials, how to use them, and where to find additional copies. The toolkit can be ordered free-of-charge from the Fire Corps national office at 1-888-FC-INFO1 (324-6361) or via email at info@firecorps.org. (more…)
This fall’s tragic fires in Southern California are a reminder of the critical need for residents and communities located in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) to understand and mitigate their wildfire risk. As communities prepare for next year’s wildfire season, the national Firewise Communities program workshop series has announced that materials from the “Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone” (HIZ) course are now available online for wildfire educators to host their own workshops. National program staff are also available to lead the course for a fee.
The workshop series focuses on how to identify the risks and help residents and communities reduce their wildfire vulnerability. The course continues to be a valuable tool for planners, landscapers, and fire and forestry professionals. In addition to the online offering, Firewise has announced the dates and locations of the 2008 HIZ workshop series that will be led by the national program. Firewise hosted five successful workshops in 2007—from Florida to Oregon—that proved to be timely, useful, and provided significant information for the participants. (more…)
By Karen Gardner
In a sense, Annie Hermansen-Baez’s career with the Forest Service parallels the growth of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) that she works with in her capacity as center manager of InterfaceSouth, the WUI component of the Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry in Gainesville, FL — which is part of the Southern Research Station (SRS) of the USDA Forest Service*[1]. Hermansen-Baez earned her Master’s degree in forestry from the University of Florida in 1998, the very same year that wildfires scorched a half-million acres of Florida’s wildland-urban interface. Those fires and the costly damage that resulted – in excess of $600 million – led the Forest Service to take a closer look at WUI issues in the South. (more…)
This article was first printed in the San Diego Union-Tribune, on October 25, 2007 by Lori Weisberg, Roger Showley and Emmet Pierce and is reprinted with permission.
A disputed land-use strategy designed to protect new developments from devastation in the county’s exurban, fire-prone areas appears to have passed its first and most critical test this week. As the Witch Creek fire raced through some of San Diego County’s priciest neighborhoods and crept to the edge of others north and east of Rancho Santa Fe, not a single home in the five subdivisions that have implemented the strategy was lost, fire authorities said. (more…)
The Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry support and conduct research, disseminate new and existing information, serve as a clearinghouse of WUI and urban forestry information, build partnerships and collaborative efforts and approaches, and facilitate and create linkages. The Centers’ websites, InterfaceSouth and Urban Forestry South Expo, are useful tools for providing easily accessible information to partners, natural resource practitioners, and the public. As the WUI component of the Centers, InterfaceSouth has initiated/taken part in a variety of activities focused on the WUI and being Firewise. Some of these include:
The SRS has research units in Asheville, NC; Athens, GA; Auburn, AL; Coweeta, NC; Gainesville, FL; Hot Springs, AR; Knoxville, TN; Pineville, LA; Research Triangle Park, NC; Saucier, MS; and Stoneville, MS. It also collaborates with the National Agroforestry Center, located in Lincoln, NE.
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