Published quarterly by the
Association of
Environmental Professionals
NAEP Affiliation
the Environmental
monitor
Fall 2010
You Too Can
Prevent Wildfires
Smokey Bear Turned 65!
2011 AEP Award Submittal Information
2011 AEP Conference Sponsor/Exhibitor Registration
Sign up early for the best locations in the exhibit area!
FEATURE ARTICLE
By: Cheryl Miller with Kenneth S. Blonski and Carol L. Rice
You Too Can Prevent Wildfires
Smokey Bear turned 65 last year
O
n August 9, 1944, the first poster of Smokey Bear
depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a
campfire.i Kicking off what would become the longest
running campaign in Ad Council history, the message
focused on accidental fires that accounted for nine out
of 10 forest fires that destroyed millions of acres every year.
Today, we recognize that fire is a natural, reoccurring event in
many wildland ecosystems. As a natural event, wildfire is not
necessarily a disaster. When wildfire interacts with the edge of an urban
area it can result in catastrophe. Where
human settlement creates communities
adjoining wildland areas, it is critical to
recognize the force of fire and act to
minimize the potential damage before a
fire begins.
In April 2001, the Ad Council
updated Smokey’s message to address
the use of prescribed fire and the
increasing number of wildfires occurring
outside forests, changing the slogan to
“Only you can prevent wildfires.” The
21st century continues to bring a richer
understanding of the role of fire. The
tools that can be used to fight wildfire
have been modernized from a shovel
and bucket, to helicopters and the gel
found in baby diapers.
Land use planners play a critical role
in preventing wildfires using up-to-date
tools including GIS, land use data,
General Plans, and ordinances to
address urban development that is
located next to wildland areas.
Land use plans, ordinances, building
codes and standards, vegetation
management,
and
preparedness
influence a community’s vulnerability
to wildfire. A fire’s impact on human
life, loss of property, and natural
resources can depend on whether the
Smokey Bear “Smokey says…”: Ad Council
www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=60
community is primarily residential or
institutional and whether it adjoins
Smokey Bear Remember sign:
http://puregarlic.blogspot.com/2009/07/forgetwildlands. The types of structures and
bears-hes-always-been-smarter.html July 1,
vegetation associated with human
2009 accessed 8/19/2010
habitation can determine the extent of
Smokey Bear “Get your smokey on”: Ad
damage from fire. Reduction of these
Council www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=60
vulnerabilities is a community-wide,
multi-disciplined responsibility that is
most effective when coordinated
regionally and locally. Who can do that
better than you?
Timing is critical in getting wildfire
and life safety issues factored into
community planning. Unfortunately,
many fire professionals are not familiar
with the land use planning process and
planners are not familiar with wildfire
prevention strategies. It is critical to bridge knowledge and
communication gaps. Land use policy and plans play a significant role in
developing the legal and practical nexus that require wildfire be taken
into account in the land development process.
Key Elements Contributing to Fire Damage
To better understand how you can prevent wildfire, it is helpful
know the key elements that contribute to fire damage. At the most
fundamental level, fuel, heat, and oxygen are required for fire to burn.
These elements form the basic “fire triangle.” Fire suppression focuses on
eliminating one or more legs of the triangle: by removing or reducing
fuels, eliminating oxygen by addition of dirt or foam, or reducing heat by
application of water. A second fire triangle describes three key elements
that influence potential wildfire behavior: topography, fuel, and weather.
The elements of this triangle influence the frequency and intensity of an
urban wildland interface fire, and the options for mitigation to reduce
damage.
Table 1 lists tools that can be used to reduce elements of threat. The
primary tools address the first two legs of the fire behavior triangle,
topography and weather build awareness through ignition-prevention
programs. Planners and community leaders should participate in
developing outreach programs, fire awareness watches, and ignition
reduction policies, such as restricting use of barbecues, or requiring safety
measures for construction or maintenance activities during periods of
high fire danger weather. In California, severe weather and increased
fire danger is called a “red flag warning”. Effective communication is
broadcast to many communities by the National Weather Service,ii and
a red flag flown at fire stations and through local media broadcasts.
Fuel can be defined in terms of Structure-related Elements and
Landscape/Wildland Vegetation-related Elements as noted in Table 1.
The amount of available fuel created by structures can be controlled
through structure density, structure construction, design and
materials, and structure setback from steep terrain. Landscape and
wildland vegetation include both domestic landscapes/defensible space
established around structures, as well as wildland vegetation of either
continued on page 5
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR FALL 2010
4
You Too Can Prevent Wildfires
continued from page 4
native or introduced species in parks or open space. The density,
arrangement, and condition are equally as important as the actual
species in how the vegetation behaves as fuel in a wildfire. California has
powerful planning tools, such as the General Plan, that can provide the
legal framework to control the level of fuels in communities. A
community can adopt its own fuel reduction-related ordinances, or link
through its General Plan to the minimum standards developed by the
State. These ordinances and planning documents provide the nexus for
many of the other solutions, such as structure setback, roofing type, and
defensible space that effectively reduce the potential damage created by
the various elements of fuel.
Table 1 lists tools that can be used to reduce elements of threat.
The first of the two categories of Elements That Affect the Ability
to Suppress Fire is Utilities and Infrastructure, which includes Water
Supply for Suppression Services, and Utility Locations (Gas,
Electric/Propane). The final category describes Community Fire
Protection. Emergency Access includes roads, bridges, gates, and other
features that can help with fire suppression, as well as evacuation of
residents. The capabilities of firefighting forces in the Level of
Suppression Service, and Community Involvement and Education, can
make a difference in the effectiveness of community fire protection.
The Tools that You Can Use
Four different strategies are available to create a community-based
solution to prevent wildfire for either a new development or an existing
neighborhood. Planners may use many of these strategies on a daily
basis.
• Awareness through ignition prevention programs can be effective at
many levels, from targeted local programs to national campaigns.
continued on page 6
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR FALL 2010
5
You Too Can Prevent Wildfires
continued from page 5
Table 2. Tools for Carrying Out Best Practices
continued on page 7
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR FALL 2010
6
You Too Can Prevent Wildfires
continued from page 6
• Policy and Planning includes development standards, codes, and
ordinances regulating land use and building in a community. These
can include zoning designations, environmental and planning
reviews, developer agreements, and subdivision ordinances.
• Community Design that physically reduces fuel loads or
vulnerabilities throughout a community.
• Emergency Services and Residents Response to fire that improves
the ability for suppression forces and citizens to reduce a fire’s impact.
Table 2 identifies specific tools available to implement a variety of
practical solutions and management approaches. Columns on the right
represent various tools that can be used to give practices the weight of
law needed to ensure success. These are listed in order of precedent from
left to right – the General Plan, Safety Element and Zoning tiering down
to project specific CEQA review or construction permit. The left
column describes the four strategies for managing wildfire that include
planning processes and practices.
The most important use of the table is to identify the links between
various opportunities that implement best practices. For example, if a
community’s zoning does not identify high fire hazard areas, a key
opportunity for influencing new residential layouts is lost. For those
interested in developing an ignition prevention education program,
there are opportunities to include triggers for increased education in
neighborhoods within extreme fire hazard areas using tools such as the
Safety Element, zoning, emergency response plans, or other community
awareness campaigns. During the process of developing more fire-safe
land use designations and zoning ordinances, the general plan or zoning
documents are the only effective tools. If the community missed these
opportunities your job of reducing fire loss will be more difficult. The
construction permit cannot affect land use designation or zoning; if fire
loss prevention was not addressed in the general plan or zoning
documents, the opportunity was missed. At a smaller scale, the project
planning and review processes can only be carried out using projectoriented tools such as a specific plan, CEQA documents, design
guidelines, development review, or a construction permit. You may have
options during these reviews to influence the smaller elements including
building materials to reduce wildfire threat, but critical neighborhood
features such as road network, density or utility locations may be difficult
to change.
Effective Use of Land Use Policy and Planning Tools
Armed with an understanding of the strategies, types of tools and a
background in the basics, how do you proceed? How do you even know
the extent of your community or neighborhood’s wildfire problem?
Where do you look for ideas to see if existing programs measure up or
could be strengthened?
Hazard Assessments
In California we are fortunate that CAL FIRE has provided the big
picture of our state’s wildfire hazard (http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_
prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_zones.php).
A quick click will show fire hazard severity zone maps for Local
Responsibility Areas (LRA) for cities and fire districts, as well as the
State Responsibility Areas (SRA). It is important to remember that
these maps were developed on a statewide basis and may differ from fire
hazard maps done by your local fire jurisdiction. Staff at your local CAL
FIRE ranger unit may also be helpful in identifying hazards for your
locale.
Local Hazard Mitigation or Multi-hazard plans done for compliance
with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 often provide a more detailed
look at fire hazard for an area. These plans offer mitigation ideas, as well
as locally designated high fire hazard areas, overlay zones, requirements
for new development, and specific requirements for defensible space or
hazard abatement in existing neighborhoods. The Association for Bay
Area Governments (http://quake.abag.ca.gov/mitigation/) provides an
example of this resource.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP)
Many regions have completed countywide community wildfire
protection plans using a comprehensive forest planning and
prioritization
process
(http://www.stateforesters.org/files/
cwpphandbook.pdf). A CWPP is especially useful if your community is
adjacent to U.S. Forest Service (USFS) or the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) lands. There are meaningful statutory incentives
for these federal agencies to consider the priorities of local communities
as they develop and implement forest management and hazardous fuel
reduction projects. But even if you are not near federal lands, these
documents are useful in the identification of hazards and strategies for
mitigation. The underlying legislation (Healthy Forest Restoration Act
2003) also influences how additional federal funds may be distributed for
projects on nonfederal lands. Several grant programs that fund fuel
reduction projects require completed CWPPs for funding eligibility
(www.cafirealliance.org/cwpp).
Planning Documents –
General Plans, CEQA Documents and Project Reviews
Since the general plan, and its seven mandatory elements, is placed
at the top of the hierarchy of local government laws regulating land use,
it plays a paramount role in establishing policies and implementation
strategies relevant to wildfire prevention. By state law all land use
actions and approvals (zoning, development agreements, specific plans
etc.) must be consistent with general plan documents. In 2003 the
Office of Planning and Research published guidelines that are helpful in
addressing wildfire at this level. The guidelines outline the content of
the general plan elements and provide examples of integrating fire
hazard mitigation into the data analysis and policy development for the
Safety, Lands Use, Housing and Conservation elements. Topics include
assets at risk from wildfire, water supply, emergency services, emergency
evacuations, firefighter safety, fire effects (minimizing loss), urban
interface hazards, fuel and structure modifications among others
(www.opr.ca.gov/planning/publications/Fire_Hazard_PlanningFinal_Report.pdf).
Early in the subdivision tentative map process is a key opportunity
to influence road access, infrastructure and community green spaces at
the stage when developers are more open to fire related improvements.
Once the infrastructure is installed the die is cast and the time to reduce
potential loss from wildfire passed. If the general plan has not set
continued on page 8
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR FALL 2010
7
You Too Can Prevent Wildfires
Professionals on the Move
continued from page 7
Philip Williams & Associates Ltd. has merged with
Environmental Science Associates (ESA). The merger supports
ESA’s strategy to deepen technical services in its water practice
through specialized habitat restoration and water science
services.
standards, other options include looking at national or state codes, such
as NFPA and Public Resource Codes.iii
Project level reviews are a commonly used tool for wildfire
prevention and often easier for a community to accept. In addition to
the standard fire department service needs (water supply, personnel and
equipment) associated with the proposed development, other factors
need to be evaluated. Review should include road connectivity, vehicle
turnaround, water supply, structure density, setbacks, position of lot and
house on slope, surrounding topography, fuel loads and weather patterns.
Evaluation of fuel conditions and proposed management should include
not only the immediate mitigation, but also the long-term sustainable
maintenance and funding strategies. A challenge during these reviews
is resolving the potential impacts of fuel related mitigation measures on
other environmental concerns such as wetlands, biotics or water quality.
Suppression related mitigation measures can include residential
sprinklers, independent power sources and foam systems. While these
reviews may be easier for the community to accept, it may be difficult at
this stage to be able to influence the number of roads accessing the site,
water supply availability or the number of building lots due to earlier
approvals.
Zoning and Building Codes
A zoning overlay in areas of high hazard can be used to require
larger minimum lot size that accommodates necessary set-backs from
adjacent slopes, design and construction requirements or even a
requirement for site specific fire plans with mitigation and fuel
maintenance/funding mechanisms. These overlay zones could be based
on water availability, road network, as well as those three legs of the
wildfire behavior triangle – steep slopes, fuels or weather patterns.
Many local jurisdictions have adopted regulations contained in
California Building Code Chapter 7A. This code requires new buildings
constructed in a Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area to be designed and
constructed with the intent of lessening the vulnerability of a building
by resisting the intrusion of flames and burning embers projected during
a wildfire. Even if your local jurisdiction has not adopted the code, it
applies to all construction in the SRA (areas where the State provides
fire protection). The code covers roofing, attic ventilation, exterior
walls, windows, doors, decking, floors, under-floor protection, ancillary
buildings and structures (www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/downloads/
ICC_2009_Ch7A_2007_rev_1Jan09_Supplement.pdf).
Chris Rogers has been promoted to ESA’s San
Francisco Bay Area Biological Resources and
Land Management Manager. Chris takes on
leadership of ESA’s Bay Area team of more
than 20 wildlife biologists, botanists,
watershed ecologists, fisheries specialists,
planners, scientists, and public involvement
specialists.
Michael Burns has joined ESA as GeologyHydrology Technical Services Group Manager.
As the firm’s senior geologist, he will lead
ESA’s team of geologists, hydrologists, and
water scientists in addressing the broad range
of geotechnical and groundwater issues faced
by clients.
Chris Rogers
Michael Burns
Mitch Marken, Director of ESA’s cultural
resources practice, has been promoted to vice
president. Dr. Marken’s promotion was
announced after the company’s Board of
Directors meeting in June 2010.
Mitch Marken
PMC is pleased to announce that John W.
Cowdery has been named as its Chief
Operating Officer. Mr. Cowdery has more
than 25 years in the consulting industry in
various roles.
John W. Chowdery
Your work can be as effective as Smokey the Bear in preventing wildfire.
i
Ad Council historic campaigns http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=129 and
campaign history http://www.smokeybear.com/vault/history_main.asp
Remember! Only You Can Prevent Wildfires
You can be as effective with your planning tools as firefighters are
with theirs. Your tools offer unique opportunities to integrate fire
prevention into a community’s guiding plans, policies, standards and
guidelines that can reduce potential damage from wildfire for
generations to come. You bring to the prevention team knowledge
about the potential opportunities and challenges hidden in the
interconnected planning framework and legal authorities. You can
identify environmental impacts from actions before they happen and
provide potential mitigation measures. By working with other
professionals, firefighters, and community members you can build a
resilient community to reduce damage when the next wildfire ignites.
ii
Fire weather forecasts in the U.S. can be found at http://radar.srh.noaa.gov/fire/ accessed
8/19/2010
iii
Useful standards to consider include: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1141
Standard for Fire Protection in Planned Building Groups. Public Resource Code 4290
and 4291 for road standards and vegetation clearance regulations (Government Code
51182 offers similar language applicable to a local jurisdiction
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR FALL 2010
8