Black Tiger Fire Case Study

Black Tiger Fire Case Study Prepared by the NFPA9 National Fire Protection Association Sponsored by the National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Protection Initiative Members of the Initiative: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service National Association of State Foresters United States Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management National Fire Protection Association For more information or to order additional copies of this report, contact Fire Investigations Division, National Fire Protection Association P.O. Box 9101, Quincy, Massachusetts, 02269 ABSTRACT A human-caused wildland fire starting on July 9, 1989 in a scenic part of the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado, swept through residential areas nestled among the trees. Within the first five to six hours after ignition, 44 homes and other structures were destroyed and many others were damaged. The fire was not completely extinguished until four days later, after burning almost 2,100 acres. Loss estimates of homes and natural resources amounted to $10 million, and the cost to control the fire was another $1 million. More than 500 fire fighters from local, state and federal fire agencies worked to eventually contain the fire and protect the numerous other homes built in the rustic surroundings. Some of the fire fighters’ own homes were threatened or destroyed by the fire. Only a few minor fire fighter injuries were reported and one resident was hospitalized from burns. The result of this wildfire, especially the loss of the homes, represents an increasingly common example of the risks of building homes in what is called the wildland/urban interface, the term for a border zone where structures-mainly residences-are built in wildland areas that by nature are subject to fires. This fire, which soon outran the fire defenses in difficult terrain, demonstrated the predictable effects of a combination of factors: lack of rainfall; prolonged heat spell; wind; sloping topography; buildup of forest fuels; construction factors affecting the susceptibility of the home to fire; use of combustible construction materials; poor site access for emergency vehicles; and lack of a home’s site maintenance for fire protection. These factors plus the number of homes that were quickly threatened compounded the problems for the fire fighters. The Black Tiger Fire was the worst wildland fire loss in Colorado history, but the conditions that led to it are still prevalent in many parts of Colorado as well as in other states. The trend of building combustible homes in the flammable wildlands continues. In many of these areas the potential for similar or worse disaster currently exists, needing only an ignition source and the unfortunate development of hot, dry, windy weather conditions that come with dangerous regularity every year. For several years fire protection agencies have been attempting to warn affected homeowners nationwide of the risks of thesewildland areas, but most homeowners remain not fully aware of, or insufficiently concerned about, the problem. Many publications also offer guidance for homes in the wildland/urban interface (see the Appendix for a sampling). Proposed NFPA 299, Protection of Life and Property from Wildland Fire, will be a national standard that will present fundamental planning and design criteria for fire agencies, planners, architects, developers and government for the protection of life and property. It includes information on procedures and practices for safe development in areas that may be threatened by wildfire. To assure that it will be an acceptable document, it-as are all standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association-is being prepared by a committee of those who would be most affected: homeowners; interested individuals; architects; urban planners; and fire officials from local, state and federal agencies. 3 T ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report has been prepared by the Na- This wildland fire is only one of many that tional Fire Protection Association (NFPA) at occur throughout the world each year. Under the request and in cooperation with the Boul- the sponsorship of the Initiative, the National der County Sheriff’s Department. The project Fire Protection Association will review, ana- was sponsored by the National Wildland/Urban lyze, and document additional wildland/urban Interface Fire Protection Initiative to further interface fires that cause destruction to homes the goals of the Initiative established in 1986. and structures. Those goals are to create general public The preparation of this report would awareness of the wildland interface prob- not have been possible without the able lems, to encourage the formation of partner- assistance of the following people: Sheriff ships among problem-solvers and interest Brad Leach and Sgt. Larry Stern of the Boul- groups, and to focus on the development of er County Sheriffs Office; Chief Ruth Rave- local solutions to wildland/urban interface el of the Sugarloaf Volunteer Fire Depart- fire problems. The Initiative is sponsored ment; Ron Zeleny and Dave Parker of the currently by the U.S. Department of Agricul- Colorado State Forest Service; Shelly Nolde ture Forest Service, U.S. Department of the and Bob Wilmot of the Arapaho/Roosevelt Interior, the National Association of National Forest; Brooke B. Smith, State Foresters, and the National Fire Jr., Fire Protection Engineer, As- Protection Association. Contact in- pen Engineering, Inc.; and nu- formation for each of these organi- merous other people from the or- zations is provided in the Appendix. ganizations listed above who con- As part of achieving the goals of tributed to this report. the Initiative, an analysis of the Black In addition, the on-site assis- Tiger Fire was undertaken. The tance and technical guidance pro- purpose of the analysis was to docu- vided to NFPA personnel by Al ment the fire, determine to the ex- Roberts, U.S.D.A. Forest Service tent possible the variables causing Regional Office in Denver, greatly the destruction, and make recom- enhanced our ability to prepare mendations on how to prevent simi- this report. Next, technical assis- lar occurrences. Thomas Klem, Di- tance and input to the fire growth rector of NFPA’s Fire Investigations and intensity analysis of the re- Division, served as project manager and tech- port were provided by Dick Rothermel, U.S.D.A. nical advisor. William Baden, Senior Fire Serv- Forest Service Intermountain Forest Range Ex- ice Specialist, NFPA, served as the technical periment Station in Missoula, Montana. Each of advisor for the project. Dr. John R. Hall, Jr., these individuals has made significant contri- Director, Fire Analysis and Research Division, butions to the technical accuracy of the report. NFPA, specifically contributed the section “Sta- The methodology used for the project and ap- tistical Analysis of Factors in Damaged Homes.” proach used in the analysis is described stan- The information from this report can be ing on page 37. used to assist planners, local officials, fire serv- Laurie Ruszcyk, as project secretary, served ice personnel and homeowners in Colorado numerous functions throughout the project and in other parts of the country in developing including coordination of technical reviews, firesafe homes and communities in the procurement of photos, and arrangement of wildland/urban interface, a term referring to the report for layout and printing. the geographical area where two diverse sys- Finally, Jerry Laughlin of Books On Fire tems-in this case, wildland and residential- served as technical editor and prepared the join and affect each other. 4 layout of the final document. OVERVIEW e officials across the nation are reporting associated with living in the wildlands. dramatic increases in the loss of homes to The population density of most cities is ex- wildfires. The 1980s have seen some of the tremely high. For example, Denver has ap- most severe wildfires in this century. In 1985, proximately 4,200 residents per square mile; for example, 1400 homes and other structures Los Angeles and Miami both have some 6,400 were damaged or destroyed in fires reported to per square mile; and New York City squeezes the U.S. Forest Service. Every year since 1985, in about 23,300 people per square mile. In ad- more than 300 homes have been lost to such dition, many city and suburban residents must wildfires, but the tragic losses are not just to contend with soaring property and rental costs property-lives of homeowners and fire fight- coupled with reduced services. They say urban ers are also lost every year. In 1987, more fire A dream areas feature excessive taxes, too-restrictive fighters died fighting wildland fires than any regulations, and endless noise, crime and grime. other single type of fire. homesite As a result, people are moving from cities to The fire danger to homes in the wildland/ the less-crowded wildlands because they offer urban interface is affected by five major fac- can become a scenic environment with generally lower tors: property costs, more privacy, fewer regula- a nightmare tions, less noise and less crime. w People continue to move to the This new trend is made possible by the scenic wildlands and build homes there. for the availability of a combination of services previ- This trend will continue to be influenced ously obtainable only in the cities and suburbs. by the less desirable factors of city and subur- unprepared. Now good connecting highways allow people ban life, as compared to the desirable factors to retain their jobs in the cities but escape to live Photo by NFPA in and enjoy the aesthetics of a home in the a long-defunct mining company. woods. Extending outward with the highways, generally good communications and other l Wildfires continue to ignite and utilities have provided important bridges be- threaten homes in the wildlands. tween the urban world of work and the rural To a city resident, a forest may represent world of new homes.

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