Fire today ManagementVolume 62 • No. 1 • Winter 2002 COOPERATIVE FIREIRE MANAGEMENTANAGEMENT United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service NEW MAILING ADDRESS Events since September 11, 2001, have made it necessary to change the addresses for regular mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to Fire Management Today. Our new mailing addresses are printed in “Guidelines for Contributors” on page 42. Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. 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Individual authors are responsible for the technical accuracy of the material presented in Fire Management Today. 2 Fire Management Today Fire today Management Volume 62 • No. 1 • Winter 2002 On the Cover: CONTENTS Firewise Workshops Ignite Community Action ............. 4 Cynthia Bailey Study Supports Cooperative Fire Protection in the West ...................................................... 8 Brian F. Weatherford Cooperative Fire Protection in Colorado ................... 13 Jim Hubbard Changes in Fire Hazard as a Result of the Monte Dolack’s painting of a Cerro Grande Fire ........................................... 15 fire scene in the wildland– Dawn Greenlee and Jason Greenlee urban interface reflects the threat facing many Ameri­ Firesafe Spokane: Working With the Community ....... 23 can homeowners and com­ Ross Hesseltine munities. Cooperative fire management programs A Fire Hazard Mitigation Plan for Guam ................... 25 nationwide are designed to David Limtiaco reduce the threat by educat­ Pennsylvania’s Firewise Medal Communities ing homeowners, treating Program ........................................................ 30 hazardous fuels, improving H. Alan Zentz, John Berst, and Paul Sebasovich firefighting resources, and other means. Dolack’s No Demobing Before Rehab!................................... 33 painting graces posters and Mary Zabinski other materials designed to Author Index—Volume 61 ...................................... 36 promote the national Firewise Communities Subject Index—Volume 61 ...................................... 37 program (see the article by Cynthia Bailey beginning on page 4). SHORT FEATURES The FIRE 21 symbol (shown below and on the cover) stands for the safe and effective use of Correction: Roscommon Equipment Center’s Origins ... 6 wildland fire, now and throughout the 21st century. Its shape represents the fire triangle Fire Education Corps Assists Homeowners................. 7 (oxygen, heat, and fuel). The three outer red Danny Ebert and Jody Handly triangles represent the basic functions of wildland fire organizations (planning, operations, and aviation management), and the three critical Websites on Fire................................................... 12 aspects of wildland fire management (prevention, suppression, and prescription). The black interior Kenai Peninsula Borough: A Spruce Bark Beetle represents land affected by fire; the emerging green points symbolize the growth, restoration, Mitigation Program ......................................... 22 and sustainability associated with fire-adapted Michael Fastabend ecosystems. The flame represents fire itself as an ever-present force in nature. For more informa­ tion on FIRE 21 and the science, research, and Recycling Forest Service Fire Engines ...................... 29 innovative thinking behind it, contact Mike Dennis Orbus Apicello, National Interagency Fire Center, 208-387-5460. Cost-Effective Engine Plays Vital Role....................... 40 Louie Casaus Smokey’s New Wildland Fire Prevention Message ..... 41 Madelyn Dillon Guidelines for Contributors..................................... 42 Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. Annual Photo Contest ............................................ 43 Volume 62 • No. 1 • Winter 2002 3 FIREWISE WORKSHOPS IGNITE COMMUNITY ACTION Cynthia Bailey he 2000 fire season provided dramatic evidence that local Severe fire seasons and evolving insights T citizens must play a more into land and resource management have active role in protecting their generated a series of recent initiatives communities from wildland fire. Communication among a diversity for wildland fire management. of community leaders, followed by transforming words into action to In the Beginning the National Fire Protection Asso­ build fire-prudent neighborhoods, ciation, and a variety of other is the goal of the national Firewise The National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Program was estab­ Federal agencies and national Communities workshops. The organizations support the program. workshops bring professionals lished in 1986 to help firefighters together to discuss their occupa­ and communities mitigate the impact of wildland fire on residen­ Firewise Communities is one of the tional perspectives while they learn most successful projects of the how to incorporate sound Firewise tial areas. The USDA Forest Service, planning concepts. Smoke billowing As we build more homes near the behind a home in wildland–urban interface, the threat Valley of the Pines, ID. to life and property from wildland This and other homes in the wildland–urban fire increases. Firewise workshops interface were emphasize community fire safety by threatened by the 1994 fostering partnerships among the Star Gulch Fire. people who plan, regulate, build, Firewise Communities workshops are buy, sell, and protect homes. designed to help communities in the Firewise Communities workshops wildland–urban interface assess fire feature approaches to implementing hazards and imple­ fire-resistant practices in commu­ ment fire-resistant nity developments, assessing landscaping and building techniques. hazards, developing and modifying Photo: USDA Forest structures, and implementing Service, 1994. Firewise landscaping and building techniques. The national Firewise Communities program is guided by the Wildland/Urban Interface Working Team of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (see sidebar). Cynthia Bailey is a freelance writer living in Stevensville, MT. 4 Fire Management Today National Wildland/Urban Interface As wildland fire Why Firewise? Fire Program. The target audience continues to ravage Although no community is com­ for each workshop is a spectrum of rural communities, the pletely safe from wildland fire, wise community leaders. The people who community design and prescribed determine whether a community USDA Forest Service fire can mitigate the impact of fire. can withstand the effects of a and partners are Firewise Communities emphasizes nearby wildland fire are those who sponsoring a 3-year that every citizen has a responsibil­ influence how neighborhoods are series of regional ity to recognize fire as an inherent designed, built, maintained, and part of the ecosystem and that protected. Firewise workshops. solutions and options exist to help communities adopt a Firewise In the past century, the U.S. popula­ lifestyle. tion has nearly tripled, with much Of particular concern is the build­ ing/loss/rebuilding cycle that of the growth flowing into areas The Firewise Communities pro­ occurs after wildland fires sweep where wildland fires have histori­ gram is founded on the conviction through an area. Low-cost loans cally occurred. Since 1970, more that homes can be designed, built, and insurance funds help home­ than 15,000 homes and 21,000 and maintained to withstand owners rebuild. Unfortunately, other structures have been lost to wildland fire without intervention property owners often recreate the severe wildland fire in the United by local firefighting resources. same conditions that led to the States. These losses have generated Communities that are designed original loss by rebuilding nearly suppression costs of $25 billion and