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- Info
The wildland urban interface: A focus on fire protection
| Author: |
Davis, J.B. |
| Date: |
1990 |
| Periodical: |
In: National Society of American Foresters Convention: Urban Forestry Working Group Session; 1990 July 29-August 2; Washington, DC. |
| Abstract: |
There is a growing threat from wildfire to people and their property in what is called the wildland-urban interface zone. An assessment of the movement of people into this zone is essential for effective fire prevention and control planning and interaction with public leaders. Yet the assessments have been constrained by the unavailability of disaggregated statistics for rural counties and subcounty geographical areas. As an interim measure, the use of data sources such as local tax assessors records and building permit files are being utilized with GIS programs to analyze how rural development is occurring at a micro-level. Not far from the crossroads community of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, lies the remains of an old brick church. The church first built in 1712, was destroyed by a forest fire in 1755. Rebuilt, it was burned by the British in 1781. Rebuilt for the second time, the church was again destroyed in a forest fire in 1886. It appears that the "wildland-urban interface" fire problem became too much for the parishioners who did not rebuild again (personal communication, Larry Edmund, USDA Forest Service, Francis Marion National Forest, Columbia, SC, 1990). Clearly, the wildland-urban interface fire problem is not new. Neither is the problem restricted to one part of our nation. The greatest loss of life-has occurred in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Idaho. The greatest property damage has occurred in Maine and California. |
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