The United States Forest Service and The Department of Interior are concerned about the fire risk to human communities next to properties they manage. This Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is where people intermix with wildland fuels. In some cases humans and their property are in harms way as wildfire occurrence is a probability at some point in time.

There are now projects that involve state and federal agencies to help reduce these hazards to property and people. Read this discussion on how the USFS Leadville Ranger District in Colorado is involved in this process. Some interesting photographs are included.

• What is a WUI? - A Discussion With Photos
• National Forests - State Parks - National Parks - Maps and Links

Fire Prevention Work in a Wildland Urban Interface - Jim Zornes, USFS

Fire needs oxygen, fuel, and heat to burn. To prevent wildfire, you need to eliminate or reduce the availability of any one of these ingredients. Since oxygen can't be easily eliminated (it is always present in the air), the focus of fire prevention is often on fuel and heat sources.

Fuel can be living or dead material that will ignite, carry fire, and burn. In your backyard woods, fuel includes standing and fallen trees, shrubs, and ground cover. Your home and outbuildings are also fuel. Fuels on the ground allow fire to spread more easily along the ground. Fuels above the ground allow fire to spread upwards and even climb into the tops of trees, where it can spread rapidly from tree to tree.

USFS Training Image