Wildfire

Citation

(2002), "Wildfire", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311cag.006

Wildfire

Wildfire

Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)www.ibhs.org

The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) has prepared a Homeowners Guide to Wildfire Retrofit, now available from the institute's Web site above.

Natural Disasters Roundtable (NDR)www.nap.edu/catalog/10173.html

The Natural Disasters Roundtable (NDR) was established by the US National Academies in 2000 to facilitate and enhance communication and the exchange of ideas among scientists, practitioners, and policy makers concerned with natural disasters. The first roundtable, held in January 2001 in Washington, DC, examined urban/wildland fire. This topic was selected in response to the outbreak of tens of thousands of fires during the 2000 season that scorched 7.2 million acres and destroyed more than 850 structures across the West and south-eastern USA. The most publicized, though not the largest of these, was the Cerro Grande Fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in May and June.

The one-day the forum sought to identify a number of key issues for science and policy that may be addressed in more comprehensive studies in the future. A nine-page summary of that roundtable, "To burn or not to burn: summary of the forum on urban/wildland fire, 26 January 2001, Washington, DC", is now available from the National Academy Press Web site above. The summary – available only on-line – provides an overview of the problem, a discussion of the role of government in addressing wildfire problems, a brief summary of mitigation options, a review of the National Fire Plan, and a list of recommendations from roundtable participants concerning policy, insurance, and research options.