WildlandUrban Interface

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Wildland/Urban Interface CCCFPD Risk Mitigation
Strategy
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The Wildland/Urban Interface is the transition
between uncontrolled vegetation in open spaces
and urbanized areas, typically single-family
structures or residential neighborhoods
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The primary concern in Interface areas is
wildland fires igniting a number of houses,
making a transition from wildland fuels to
structures, and becoming an urban conflagration
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The Interface Fire Problem

• In its simplest terms, the fire interface is any
  point where the fuel feeding a wildfire changes
  from natural (wildland) to man-made (urban) fuel.
  
• An interface may be a single spot in a building
  where fire can enter.
• If this point is vulnerable and unattended, fire
  may then propagate inside the house. For this to
  happen, wildland fire must be close enough for
  its flying brands or flames to contact the
  flammable parts of the structure.

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Shaping the Battlefield means
Setting the conditions for success in decisive
operations.
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Its less about preparing for battle
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.and more about preparing the battlefield itself.
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Its is getting worse, not better!

• Wildfire Events More with each decade
• Suppression Costs Dramatic increases
• Home Losses Exponential increase in last 50
  years
• Environmental Damage Ecosystem health declining
  and soil, water, habitats impacted

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Why are we undertaking such a bold and sweeping
approach?
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Protecting Your City from Conflagration

• Conflagrations cannot be controlled by massive
  human effort at the time of the fire.
• They can be controlled, however, by the proper
  use of building materials and by the provision of
  exposure protection.
• Rexford Wilson, 1965

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Simulation

• This simulation was built using an east-northeast
  wind similar to winds that blew during the
  Geysers Fire.
• Although these winds are rare, they do tend to be
  the common factor in large damaging fires.

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1200 Fire Ignites West of 1st Avenue south of
Palm Drive.
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100 The fire reaches the ridge, casting embers
to the west.
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200 The ridgeline is exposed to the East winds
allowing embers fall beyond Maxwell Avenue.
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300 The fire is moving in all directions and has
established itself within the neighborhood
between E. Spring and Highland Drive.
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400 The fire burns past Lakeview Park and has
jumped Meek and Nielsen Avenues.
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500 The fire continues to cast embers. Will most
likely transition from an urban interface fire to
a fire that burns from structure to structure.
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The Potential Damages

• 359 homes potentially impacted by this fire.
• 56,153,784 in damages based on current assessed
  tax information.
• Add the cost of rebuilding, recovery, and
  environmental repair.

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Building Ignition Timewith Radiant Heat Exposure

• Jack Cohen

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It is a Good thing that Interface Fires are
Disastrous Conflagrations.
MGM Grand 1980
We have an excellent track record in reducing
conflagration losses through hazard mitigation.
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Interface Fire DisastersMore fire engines?

• No! At an ignition rate of 13 homes/minute this
  is a Conflagration Problem.

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Interface Fire DisastersWill wildland fuel
management stop this problem?

• Historic fire loss patterns indicate that HIGH
  WIND speed will drive interface fires through any
  wildland fuel bed.

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A big fire loss problem?

• Natural Disaster
• Inevitable Forces of Nature
• Losses
• 24 Lives
• 3,713 Homes Businesses
• 750,043 acres
• Suppression Response
• 1,716 Engines (86 of wildland engines)
• 14,027 Personnel

What are these?Do these things describe the
problem?.
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A big fire loss problem?
These areBIGSYMPTOMS!Jim Shannon, NFPA
PresidentNot the problem.

• Natural Disaster
• Inevitable Forces of Nature
• Losses
• 24 Lives
• 3,713 Homes Businesses
• 750,043 acres
• Suppression Response
• 1,716 Engines (86 of wildland engines)
• 14,027 Personnel

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A big fire loss problem? US Fire Fatalities
1985-1994
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A big fire loss problem? US Fire Home Loss
1985-1994
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California Interface Loss History

• Cursory survey of 253 interface fires from 1923
  thru 2004 with a total of 22,837 structures
  burned.

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California Interface Loss History

• Cursory survey of 253 interface fires from 1923
  thru 2004 with a total of 22,837 structures
  burned.

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Ignition Resistant Building Construction
Vegetation Hazard Mitigation
Foote, Ethan (CDF/CNR). 1994. Structure Survival
on the 1990 Santa Barbara Paint Fire Table
14-Cii p. 132
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We ARE changing.. Building Standards Fire Fuels
Management Training and Education Land Use
Planning Community Planning
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• What causes buildings to ignite?
• Radiant Heat

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• Direct Flame Impingement

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• Ember/Firebrand Exposure

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• ROOF COVERINGS AND ASSEMBLIES

UNPROTECTED EDGE
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• VENTS AND ASSEMBLIES

LAUNDRY ROOM VENT
VENT BLOCK
GABLE END VENT
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• EXTERIOR WALLS

FIRE STARTED HERE
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• EXTERIOR WINDOWS

VINYL WINDOW FRAMES
DUAL PANE WINDOWS
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• DOORS WOOD DECK

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California WUI Building Standards

• TEST STANDARDS
• Roofs
• Eaves
• Exterior Walls
• Windows
• Decks

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When fuel ladders lead from the native vegetation
directly to structures, structure ignition is
more likely, and tactical defensive operations
more challenging. This problem defines the need
for a DEFENSIBLE SPACE
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Why Defensible Space?

• Fuel
• vegetation, combustible material, or structures
• Topography
• Slope, aspect, geographic features
• Weather
• RH, wind speed and direction, air temperature

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Why Defensible Space?

• Suppression
• Priority on structure protection (after
  life-safety missions such as rescue and medicals)
• Depends on access, water supply (when available),
  and defensible space

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Why Defensible Space?

• The most important person protecting a house from
  wildfire is not the firefighter, but the property
  owner.

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Why Defensible Space?

• Fire needs heat, fuel and oxygen cant do much
  about heat and O2, but we can control fuels
• Factors that increase the risk of fire to a
  structure include topography, dangerous adjacent
  vegetation, roofing type, siding type,
  combustible decks, walkways, and openings into
  structures (skylights, windows, etc.)
• Mitigation of the threat means managing the
  vertical and horizontal continuity of fuels, or
  the fuel ladder

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Vegetation Fuels
   
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Structure Fuels
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Battlefield Tactics Controlling the Battlefield
with Fire Fuels Management

• Fire Management Plans
• Habitat Conservation Plans
• Fire Ecology
• Watershed Management Plans

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The Solution requires both
Defensible Space

• Building Design and Construction

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Wildland/Urban Interface

• Two Objectives
• 1 Reduce the fuel, and therefore, the fire
  intensity that the structure must withstand to
  resist ignition and fire
• 2 Provide a safe working environment for
  firefighters protecting the structure

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Wildland/Urban Interface

• CCCFPD has guidelines for providing defensible
  space
• 0-30 zone most restrictive, remove most
  vegetation with exception of single specimen,
  provided they are well spaced, well pruned and
  creates a condition that avoids the spread of
  fire to other vegetation or to a structure
• 30-100 is the reduced fuel zone, where fuels
  are spaced and maintained to avoid transmission
  vertically and horizontally between plants, and
  between plants and structures
• Spacing is determined by the potential flame
  lengths expected from vegetation

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Steep Slope
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Low, Clean and Lean?
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Defensible Space Guidelines

• Ladder Fuels

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Defensible Space Guidelines

• Ladder Fuels
• Under fire conditions, flames from fuels burning
  at ground level can be carried to shrubs, which
  can ignite still higher fuels like tree branches.
• Ladder fuels can be corrected by providing a
  separation between the vegetation layers (3 times
  the height of the lower fuel layer is recommended)

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Defensible Space Guidelines

• Ladder Fuels

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Your actions benefit your neighbors
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Or dont
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Privacy increased RISK
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What would you do?
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WUI Battlefield - Land Use Planning Tools

• CEQA
• General Plans
• CWPPs
• Fire Protection Plans

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Fire Protection Plan

• GENERIC SAMPLE TABLE OF CONTENTS
• UWI FIRE PROTECTION PLAN
• Section Page
• 1. Introduction 1
• 2. Project Description 2
• 3. Site Specific Setting 2
• 4. Vegetation Fire Risk Assessment 2
• 5. Recommended Vegetation Management Zones
  4

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Table of Contents, continued

• 6. General Requirements 7
• 7. Undesirable Plants
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• 8. Planting, Spacing and Maintenance guidelines
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• 9. Annual ongoing Vegetation Management
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• 10. Construction Phase Vegetation Management
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• 11. Infrastructure recommendations 10
• A. Road widths and circulation
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• B. Road Grades 11
• C. Length of Cul-de-sacs 11

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Table of Contents, continued

• D. Access Gates 11
• E. Driveways 12
• F. Fire Hydrant spacing 12
• G. Needed Fire Flow and duration/storage
  12
• H. Identification of roads and structures
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• I. Safety Zones 14
• J. Location of LPG tanks, firewood, etc.
  14

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Table of Contents, continued

• 12. Ignition Resistant Structural recommendations
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• A. Exterior wall ratings and materials
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• B. Roofs 15
• C. Ventilation 15
• D. Internal Fire Sprinklers 16
• E. Glazing 16
• F. Skylights 16
• G. Rain gutters and downspouts 16
• H. Fire resistance of doors 16
• I. Projections ( decks, patio covers, etc)
  17
• J. Awnings, canopies 17

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Table of Contents, continued

• K. Fencing 17
• L. Spark arrestors 17
• M. Dryer and air conditioning vents
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• N. Setbacks of structures from lot lines/
  adjoining structures.
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• Appendix
• A. Tract map with vegetation management zones
  shown.
• B. BEHAVE Fire Spread models
• C. Illustration of structural safeguards

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Individual Community Wildland Fire Risk Assessment

• HAZARD - a condition or element that provides a
  source of ignition for a hostile fire or
  contributes to its spread and severity
• RISK - the exposure to possible loss or injury
  from a Hazard
• A RISK ASSESSMENT involves identifying the risk
  impact and risk perception in order to support
  decision making and planning.

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• DEVELOP A PLAN
• IMPLEMENT THE PLAN
• MEASURE THE CHANGES

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Assessment Process

• Hazard/Risk Model definition of hazard or risk
• Collection Strategy identify required data
  inputs
• Data Collection and Analysis extract attributes
• GIS Implementation present a common view of
  environment
• Continual Update adjust to reflect mitigation
  efforts

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• PLAN FITS OUR MISSION
• SHARED CORE VALUES
• MEASUREABLE / INTERACTIVE

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Risk Assessment Models Wildland Fire

• Develop a community definition of WUI hazards and
  risks
• Adopt existing model
• Develop community-based model
• Common Attributes
• Fire Behavior (fuels, slope, aspect, etc)
• Landscape (veg density, defensible space)
• Water (hydrant, sources)
• Access (response time, road conditions)
• Construction (roof, siding, utilities, etc)
• Combine attributes to develop a rating
• Science
• Subject Matter Experts
• Polling of effected community

Moraga-Orinda
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PLAN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
website
GIS
FireWise
WILDLAND RISK MANAGEMENT
Fuels Management
Suppression
Development Review
Code Enforcement
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Data Collection
Road Composition
Roofing Materials

• GIS Databases
• Geospatial data on community and infrastructure
• Field Visits
• Direct Observation encourages direct contact
  with community
• Ground Truth ensure accuracy of remote sensing
• Remote Sensing
• Spectral - rapid, automated, accurate
  identification of specific materials and features
• LiDAR elevation and slope, canopy structure,
  man-made features/building

Vegetation Density
Permeability
Water Bodies
Vegetation Species
Wildland Fire Fuels
Hyperspectral Data provides hundreds of layers of
information from a single collection
LiDAR Data provides ability to accurately map
elevations, structures, and vegetation/canopy
layers
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EXPERIENTIALLY WEIGHTED VALUES
ASPECT D-SPACE WATER ADDRESS ACCESS ELEVATION RESP
ONSE
ROOF FUEL VEGETATION TOPOGRAPHY DECK-EAVES SLOP
E SIDING
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Remote Sensing

• Analysis matched to information needs
• Extract information without direct contact
• Can be easily integrated into GIS and Decision
  Tools

Multiple Uses
Single Collect
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Spectral Imaging
Feature Extraction Materials Asphalt Concrete B
are Earth Metal/Aluminum Wood Shingle Terracotta
Anderson Fuel Models FM-1 FM-2 FM-5 FM-8 Invasiv
e Vegetation Bull Thistle Milk Thistle Ox-tongue
Thistle Black Mustard Poison Hemlock Italian
Thistle Blackwood Acacia Density
Layers Permeable Surface Non-permeable
Surface Vegetation Density
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Hyperspectral Data

• Airborne Hyperspectral data
• Reduce man-hours of collection
• Consistent level of accuracy
• Extraction of many attributes in single collect

Hyperspectral data enables automated
identification of roof types including
discrimination of red asphalt shingles from terra
cotta roofs.
Data Courtesy of SpecTIR Corp
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Hyperspectral Data Wildland Fire Fuels
Data Courtesy of Terra Remote Sensing
Moraga-Orinda Fire District
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Continual Update

• Update and share risk assessment
• Site visits
• Stakeholder contact
• Additional data (LiDAR)
• GIS update function
• Integrate new data into Risk Model
• Redeploy results (web map) to reflect the
  change

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Aerial Imaging - LiDAR
Denver, Colorado LiDAR Data Merrick Software
Pacific Northwest Research Station Analysis SRA
International

• LiDAR Attributes
• Vertical / Horizontal Detail
• Vegetation Density and Volume Information

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DEFACTO STATEMENT OF ACCEPTABLE RISK
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Sharing the View Geospatial Information Systems

• Assemble all attributes within single GIS system
• Combine attributes using Risk Model to assess
  each parcel
• Display results
• Web-based systems
• Maps

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Continual Update

• Update and share risk assessment and plans with
  community based on
• Environmental changes
• Assessment of mitigation plans and strategies
• Home-owner engagement

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• DEFINED RISK
• SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
• REMEDY
• REWARD

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Conclusion

• Firefighters can control 97 of all wildfires
  that start. 3 overwhelm even the best-equipped,
  well-staffed agencies. Thats when advanced
  preparations really count.