Community Advisor - Firewise

"The model of homeowners and neighborhoods depending solely on government provided fire fighting resources for protection is outdated. Recent fires have demonstrated that community firefighting resources are easily outpaced when multiple structures are burning simultaneously. A positive change occurs when some protection responsibility is accepted by homeowners and communities. However, many homeowners and communities are not prepared to plan and take action to reduce fire risk. Complimentary to risk reduction is the firewise effort. This program assists homeowners and communities organize so they can modify risk (fire ignition management) and reduce hazard (fuel bed modification). Firewise provides the social structure necessary for communities to organize and accomplish their risk reduction activities. Natural resource professionals, as community advisors, can assist communities achieve some level of sustainable risk reduction success by providing science-based information about ecosystem dynamics, economic opportunities and constraints, and social considerations. As community advisors, these professionals help communities plan risk reduction activities that recognizes ecosystem dynamics, prevents one problem being traded for another, finds a balance between the environment and community protection, and schedules change at a rate community members can accept. Firewise, with community advisors, supports and places risk reduction activities into an ecosystem management framework. It moves theoretical silviculture, community planning, innovation diffusion, communication, decision-making, risk assessment, and protection responsibility into citizen hands for practical applications. This approach encourages development of unique solutions for each community, and its corresponding ecosystem, using interdisciplinary resources to find fire risk reduction solutions through community collaboration." [Abstract from Conference Program and Book of Abstracts]

[Concurrent Session I-B: Fire I]

[Presented at "Emerging Issues Along Urban/Rural Interfaces: Linking Science and Society", a conference held March 13-16, 2005 in Atlanta, GA (US)]