NFPA Urges Actions To Reduce Wildfire Risk

On the heels of the catastrophic Maui wildfires, which are among the deadliest in US history, the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) is urging governments, communities, and individual property owners alike to take science-backed steps to prepare for a wildfire, reduce risks, and support more robust firefighting efforts at the local level. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that less than 10 percent of at-risk communities have developed community action plans to reduce the loss from a wildfire. Lorraine Carli of the NFPA says that from local homeowners to the highest government levels mitigation strategies to protect communities need to be embraced. The NFPA has a list of five tenets they call “Outthink Wildfire”. They include things like encouraging local governments to use and enforce current fire codes, building codes, and land use practices proven to mitigate risk of wildfires. Another is that Fire departments for communities in Wildfire prone areas must be prepared to respond safely and effectively to a wildfire. They say most departments lack sufficient resources for safe and effective actions to fight a wildfire. The NFPA says that local governments need to take action to lower fuel for a wildfire by using things such as controlled burns. Full details can be found at www.nfpa.org.