Watch “Living with wildfire.” Wildfires are an inescapable and necessary function of healthy ecosystems. In the past decade they have increased in severity and duration, killed more people, and burned more structures.
Wildfire
Wildland-Urban Interface: The Problem, Trends, & Solutions (slides)
Slide show: The wildland-urban interface is growing and wildfires are causing cause more damage. Land use planning is an important solution.
Wildfire Risk Report for every U.S. community
A new report in our Economic Profile System provides community-level data about wildfire hazard and potentially vulnerable populations.
Montana wildfire risk is widespread and growing
The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
Preparing for wildfires during a pandemic
Managing wildfires during a pandemic will test the capacity of our first responders, but individual homeowners can take steps now to reduce wildfire risks.
Building for Wildfire Summit: Understanding How Homes Burn
Video and highlights from an event that brought together diverse community leaders to explore practices for building fire-adapted communities.
Wildfire Hazard Assessments Inform Land Use Planning
Wildfire hazard assessment maps can help communities build safer neighborhoods, prioritize mitigation resources, and adapt to wildfire.
Land Use Planning More Effective Than Logging to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Updated: For communities land use planning is more effective than logging on federal lands to reduce future wildfire disasters.
Communities utilize land use planning to reduce wildfire risks and costs
Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) is helping communities reduce wildfire risks and costs. Four new communities join 26 others this coming year.
Building a Wildfire-Resistant Home: Codes and Costs
A new home built to wildfire-resistant codes can be constructed for roughly the same cost as a typical home.
San Luis Valley Wildfire Risk
Explore interactive maps of watersheds, wildfire, and the wildland-urban interface in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
Wildfire, Watersheds, and the Wildland-Urban Interface in the San Luis Valley
Partners in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are working to better understand the impacts of wildfire to communities, watersheds, and quality of life.
Austin Wildfire and Vulnerable Populations Tool
Identify neighborhoods where overlapping wildfire threats and socioeconomic vulnerabilities may make people disproportionately susceptible to wildfire.
New Montana Homes Increase Wildfire Risks
The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
Full Community Costs of Wildfire
Almost half of the full community costs of wildfire are paid for at the local level, including homeowners, businesses, and government agencies.
Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017
Explore all communities threatened by wildfires from 2000 to 2017.
Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017: Sortable Table
The sortable table identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities.
Assessing Wildfire and Populations at Risk
A new tool helps the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico assess wildfire and populations at risk.
Communities Reduce Wildfire Risk Through Land Use Planning
Updated: The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program now helps 30 communities reduce wildfire risk through improved land use planning.
Planning Tools to Reduce Montana’s Wildfire Risk
County governments, fire districts and service areas, and landowners have many opportunities to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface through land use planning tools and strategies, though challenges in Montana’s regulatory framework remain.