Homes, communities and wildfire

Title of presentation

Homes, Communities and WildfireRisk reduction resources from NFPA and the Firewise Communities ProgramMay 10, 2016| Michele Steinberg, NFPA Wildland Fire OperationsMay 10, 2016| Michele Steinberg, NFPA Wildland Fire Operations

National Fire Protection Association. All rights reserved.

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AgendaWildfires magnitude, scope and how homes burnFirewise principles how to protect homesNFPA ResourcesFirewise Communities/USA Recognition ProgramUSAA Discounts, California Natural Hazard DisclosureSeminars and Materials

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nfpa.org | National Fire Protection Association. All rights reserved.

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This short video features fire researcher Jack Cohen, who summarizes the impact of his findings on how to keep homes from igniting during a wildfire.3

About NFPA4Global non-profit devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. Support for development, adoption, and enforcement of codes and standardsResearch and data analysisTechnical training and certificationPublic educationOutreach and advocacyFAST FACTSFounded in 1896More than 60,000, members 6,000 volunteers275+ technical code development committees300 codes and standards300 employees


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25 Years of Fire Activity 1985-2010


The need for a national effort to reduce losses is growing. This is a slide from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) State of the Climate webpage showing wildfire incidents and the number of acres burned each year for 25 years, starting with 1985.The red line represents the number of wildfires reported each year. You can see it varies wildly from year to year but it more or less evens out over 25 years.The blue line is the number of acres burned each year. While this also varies from year to year, you can see the trend is definitely in the upward direction. So maybe not more fires, but definitely bigger fires.5

Billions spent annually on suppressionThreats to public health, safety, and property, community assets and amenitiesOverburdened local & state governmentsChallenged ecosystems

Why do we care?


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Set of conditions under which a wildland fire reaches beyond trees, brush, and other natural fuels to ignite homes and their immediate surroundings.Wildland/Urban Interface


7NOTE TO PRESTENTER: INSERT PHOTOS OF LOCAL WUI AREAS, IF AVAILABLE.

Over the past century, Americas population has grown dramatically. Much of this growth has flowed into traditionally natural areas. This trend has created an extremely complex landscape that has come to be known as the wildland/urban interface. That term wildland/urban interface is the area in which encroaching development into forests, grasslands and farms has put lives, property and natural resources at risk from wildfire. An easy to identify example might be [INSERT LOCAL EXAMPLE].

We have developed tactics to battle wildland fire. However, if we really want to reduce loss of lives, homes, and properties, we must change our development, building, and landscaping practices.The bottom line: We can live compatibly with wildland fire while protecting our lives, homes, and natural areas by using principles known as Firewise or FireSmart here in Canada.

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 2009Not just a California problem


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Bastrop, Texas, 2011Not just a Western problem


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How Homes Burn Down#1: Embers or firebrands the leading cause of home ignition and home loss during WUI firesFlammable roofs, decks most vulnerableOpenings can let embers in

One of 3 ways or a combination


10There are three main ways that homes burn down in wildfires. They can be ignited from one or more of these causes.

The first and most common way that homes burn down is due to embers or firebrands. These particles can be large, such as flaming branches dropping from a tree, or quite tiny, small sparks that can enter an unscreened vent or chimney and ignite the house from inside.Embers can land on and ignite structures far from the main body of the fire up to a mile away, lofted on winds. When embers land and pile up like dead leaves, or snowflakes on vulnerable parts of the home, they can burn the home down. Typically in a large fire, there is no one at home to find the embers and extinguish them before they begin to do their damage.

How Homes Burn DownUninterrupted fuel (like tall dry grass) can carry fire right to the homeSurface fire can be carried up into the crowns of trees in a ladder effect from grass to shrubs or low tree branchesWinds can make surface fire move very quickly

#2: Surface or ground fire in grasses, brush, shrubs


11Surface fire is another common way that homes can ignite. Continuous fuels like a lawn of tall dry grass, a bed of dry leaves or pine duff - can ignite from embers and carry fire directly to the house. Surface fire can also ignite taller plants and low-hanging tree branches, allowing it to climb up into taller trees and create larger flames and crown fires. Larger flames equal more heat radiating toward a home.

How Homes Burn DownCrown fire refers to large flames consuming an entire tree from the ground to the tree crownLarge flames radiate an immense amount of heat that can ignite a home without flames touching the homeCrown fires burn very quickly at one location and move to continue to consume fuel

#3: Crown fire radiant heat


12Finally, there is radiant heat, usually associated with the crown fire that is raging through tall trees in a forest. These large flames throw enough heat to ignite walls or roofs without ever touching them.We heard about Jacks experiments that help us understand that the crown fire must be quite close to the house to burn it down, though. Well talk about Firewise strategies to mitigate that problem shortly.Radiant heat in a wildfire can also come from surrounding structures, parked vehicles, or big stacks of firewood left close to the house.

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30-second video from IBHS Demonstrating the impact of embers on homes in the lab13

Homes as fuelHomes that do not survive wildfire tend to be more flammable than the nearby vegetationFlammable roofs, siding, attachmentsWindows exposed to heat and flames breakOpenings let embers and flames inDebris in nooks and crannies catches embersNear space to home (0-5 feet) very vulnerable


Homes can survive: Firewise design is effective

Homes can survive wildfires by judicious use of standard residential building materials and landscape design


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Most effective Firewise strategies16Better roofs Reduce ember penetrationPlanned/maintained landscapes


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Firewise principles: The Home Ignition Zone


Ignition potential is almost entirely due to the condition of the home itself and everything around it within 100-200 feetThis is generally under control of the property ownerMitigating for the impact of embers and surface fire the little things makes a big difference17

Firewise: the programFire science informs social scienceNeighbors MUST work togetherCreating a Firewise community18

Overlapping Home Ignition Zones


Talk about criteria, structure-to-structure ignition issue. Fire moves from fuel source to fuel source. Fire doesnt care what the fuel source is (your house) or who owns the fuel (your neighbor). This reality means that neighbors must work together to minimize ignition potential. Many developments have homes and ignitable fuel within 100 feet of one another in overlapping home ignition zones. Luckily, social science shows that creating new norms in a community is achievable by this practice of community behavior change.18

How and why?Firewise Communities/USA is community-wide mitigationNational, voluntary, standard criteria19


The Firewise Communities/USA Recognition Program was created in 2002 to provide neighborhoods with wildfire risk a template and process to understand their ignition potential and to start to do something about it. Each of these neighborhoods has a spot on the map, and they self-define their boundaries where the Firewise community begins and ends. 19

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USAA members in AZ, CA, CO & TX Firewise Communities get a home insurance discount. Members in Oregon will receive it starting June 30.


I tend to talk about insurance a lot in the course of my job. I once worked for the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), an insurance trade group doing research and outreach about natural hazards. When I came to work for NFPA on the Firewise program, I was asked frequently, What will Firewise do for my/my communitys insurance rates? And for more than 10 years, my answer was, Nothing. I am happy to tell you that starting in 2014, my answer had changed. That was when USAA succeeded in persuading the California Insurance Commission to allow them to offer a discount to their policyholders (members) who lived in Firewise Communities/USA sites in California. USAA got interested in this little program (roughly 700 communities in 40 states when we first talked in 2011) and they analyzed the Firewise boundaries compared to their list of members. They took a loss snapshot for a given three-year period all the claims from homeowner policies over three years, for every member inside and every member outside Firewise community boundaries in California. They found a significant difference in loss for their members within Firewise communities compared to those outside within the same state. This gave them actuarial data to be able to bring to the state insurance commission. Because Firewise is run by NFPA with a consistent set of criteria across the country, and because weve collected consistent data about the communities since 2002, USAA felt comfortable using this model for their analysis.

Additional/other points USAA came to us they saw value in a community-level program that engaged all residents; scaleable, consistent, NFPA collecting the data. They cant get to people they dont insure but Firewise can. Neighbor talking to neighbor.

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Firewise is making a difference

nfpa.org21


Weve long known that communities engaging in the Firewise process were doing good things and creating a new normal in their neighborhoods. Its seen as a positive just about everywhere. People take pride in their status. They tell us about the community-building that goes on as part of being Firewise. And they reference things like peace of mind when they spend time reducing ignition risks across the community. Weve got stories of individual home saves and communities coming through fires with little or no damage because of the work theyve done. But financially? Well, like I said, for about a decade I had to tell people weve really got no proof that this work is going to translate into dollars of loss reduction. Weve got a really good feeling butwe didnt have the facts until USAA did their analysis.

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By the numbersFrom California Insurance Commission filing, State Tracking #1303754USAA found that its members within Firewise Communities/USA sites had a significantly different loss experience than members in other communities in California.


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NHD Reports

23Myriad Development, Inc. and California subsidiary DisclosureSave now disclosing Firewise status for real property in California


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NFPA Resourceswww.nfpa.org/catalogTraining Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition ZonePrint and audiovisual material free of charge, no shipping feeFirewise outfitters for sale promo materialNFPA Codes and Standards documentsAlso available to read for free online24Seminars, Materials and more


Questions


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Thank You!Michele Steinberg, NFPA Wildland Fire Operations [email protected]


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Real Estate

Homes, communities and wildfire