Wildland-Urban Interface

Nationally, over the last few decades more and more people have abandoned city living for a more rural setting. Wisconsin is no different. The increase in rural residences and recreational cabins has been alarming.

Unfortunately, not everyone adapts to the fire danger that exists in wildland areas. Today, not only do firefighters have to deal with the wildland fuels, but the structures that are mixed in with them as well. In the fire service this has come to be known as the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and it stands as one of the biggest challenges to wildland and structural fire agencies. The simple fact is that in the event of a large fire there will not be enough fire trucks to protect every home.

Wisconsin is no stranger when it comes to wildfire activity. Each year dozens of structures are destroyed by wildfire and hundreds more are threatened. Whether started by humans or by lightning, fire is a necessary and inevitable occurrence that helps to maintain the beauty and health of our forests. The possibility of excluding fire from the wildlands is simply not possible.

Firefighters' Roles

Put yourself in the driver's seat of a fire truck at the scene of a large fire. Depending on the area, hundreds of homes may be threatened over the course of the fire. Your first priority is the safety of your personnel and citizens in the area. You may have many homes assigned to you to attempt to protect either before or after the fire front passes.

With the water you have you can probably wet down 2 or 3 homes before having to refill your truck with water. On top of all this, you have limited visibility due to smoke, constant 2-way radio communications, the confusion of a panicked citizenry evacuating the area and others trying to enter the area to get a first hand look. Since time will not allow you to give attention to all the structures in your area before the fire arrives, you must determine which ones you can safely send your vehicle and personnel to and fight where your chances of success are high.

There is great concern to fire officials when homes are built in areas of highly flammable vegetation, especially when the structures themselves are made of flammable materials. The concern increases when homes are built in remote areas or when roads and driveways are narrow or sandy, which may make it impossible for emergency vehicles to get to homes.

Unfortunately, even though housing in the WUI is increasing, the number of available firefighters and equipment is not increasing at the same rate. Often times, firefighters in fire-prone areas are working as volunteers and may not be fully aware of the potential problems in a community they are helping try to protect.

These firefighters may also be expected to know how to evacuate communities and fight structure fires as well as wildland fires all in the same day. That kind of demand requires a higher level of training which may not always be available.

In general it seems that wildfire is viewed as a sinister force that knowingly destroys life and property. And people think that if a fire should happen, structural or wildland, there is going to be a fire truck parked around the corner waiting to save the helpless victim. We realize that neither of these is true and we need to communicate that to the public. Roles need to be redefined so that firefighters and homeowners become partners.

Through redefined roles, homeowners and fire officials form a partnership to increase safety in the WUI. In this situation, homeowners take principle responsibility for assuring low home ignitability. Fire officials provide technical assistance as well as emergency response. The ideal situation is for homes to be designed, built, and maintained to withstand a wildfire without the intervention of the fire department.

The Right Stuff

Conditions must be just right for a wildfire to start and spread. Fire needs heat, fuel, and oxygen to burn. If even one of these factors is removed from the equation, the fire is snuffed out. In Wisconsin, fire behavior is influenced by weather, available fuels, topography, and human behavior.

Wind-driven embers can quickly spread fire in new directions

These components affect (1) the likelihood of a fire start, (2) speed and direction at which a fire will travel, (3) intensity at which a wildfire burns, and (4) the ability to control and extinguish a wildfire. Although weather cannot be changed and topography would be very difficult to change, fuels (vegetation and structures) and human behavior can be modified. Consequently, many of our opportunities in reducing the wildfire threat lie in proper management and manipulation of wildland vegetation and in changing our behavior.

Protect Your Home from Wildfire

When thinking of modifying your property to be compatible with the surrounding land, there are three main topics to consider: 1) Access - would fire fighters be able to get to your home if there were a fire in the area? 2) The surrounding vegetation - how easily could a fire spread from the adjacent vegetation to your home? 3) The structure - how flammable is your home?

Access: Driveways should be at least 12 feet wide with 14 feet of overhead clearance. Driveways longer than 150 feet or ones with sharp curves may need to be closer to 20 feet wide. Many counties and local municipalities have driveway ordinances in place to ensure emergency vehicle access, check with local officials to see if such ordinances exist in your area.

If your driveway is longer than 300 feet, provide a turnout or turnaround for fire trucks. A locked or closed gate can make entry to your property impossible. Remember, firefighters must keep in mind that as they tend to one structure, others in the area are either burning or being directly threatened by the fire.

Wildland fuels surrounding your home: The area within approximately 30 feet around all structures is thought of as your home's Defensible Space. If modified properly, this area can keep low intensity surface fire from reaching structures. It can also provide a relatively safe area for firefighters to work in if they are able to help protect your home. This area should be kept mowed short, raked free of fallen leaves and needles, and green throughout the growing season. Plantings should be carefully spaced and have more fire-resistive qualities. Remember that deciduous plants, shrubs, and trees are generally more fire-resistive than evergreens. Create fuel breaks by incorporating gravel, rock, brick, paving or a water feature into your landscape design. Keep all tree limbs pruned back at least 10 feet from all structures. Prune conifers up 6 to 10 feet from the ground. Keep firewood and other flammable materials out of this zone.

A Firewise home near Stevens Point

Vegetation in outlying areas 30 to 100 feet beyond structures also needs to be managed. Trees in this zone should be at least 10 feet apart and taller trees should have all limbs pruned within six feet of the ground. Remove all dead or dying limbs throughout tree canopies. Remove dead, dying, and diseased trees from this area. Talk to your neighbors. Wildfire doesn't understand property boundaries. By working with others in your neighborhood to manage wildland fuels, fire risk can decrease even further.

Once you have reduced fuels around your property, you must maintain the area or risk losing the benefit of its protection. Keep a schedule of seasonal maintenance where roofs and gutters are cleaned and leaves and needles are raked. Remember that spring is when most wildfires occur in Wisconsin; clean up at this time of year is essential.

The structure itself and immediate area: Any building on your property is potential fuel in a wildfire, including garages, campers, and storage sheds. Also, remember that anything attached to a structure is part of the structure. Roofs, rain gutters, and decks are natural traps for leaves, pine needles, and embers from a fire. These areas should be kept free of all material that could allow an ember to smolder and start a fire. Do not store flammable materials or allow debris to fill in under decks and overhangs. Chimneys, eaves, and vents should be kept covered with wire mesh to keep embers from blowing into structures.

The first 3 to 5 feet around structures and wooden fences should be kept free of all vegetation, living and dead. Think of this as the "No Grow Zone." You may want to consider filling in these areas with decorative stone or some other non-flammable material.

A little preventative work now can mean a home to come back to later. Do all you can to prepare for a fire.

Significant Wildland-Urban Interface Fires in Wisconsin:

• Historical Account
• Ekdall Church - Oak Lake Fires. April 21-22, 1980
• Crystal Lake Fire. April 14, 2003
• Cottonville Fire. May 5, 2005