Resources for Designing WUI Communities

We have posted several resources from our presentation today at the NFPA Conference. They can be read here or downloaded via PDF. A copy of the final presentation will also be posted soon.

Resources for Designing WUI Communities (PDF)

Presentation from NFPA 2016 (PDF)

Resources for Designing WUI Communities

Fire Modeling

• BEHAVE Plus: https://www.frames.gov/partner-sites/behaveplus/software-manuals/

A 1-D model giving values, such as rate of spread (ROS), flame length, fire intensity, etc. Inputs needed are:

• FlamMap; http://www.firelab.org/document/flammap-software

A 2-D mapping model useful for producing risk mapping of the community

• FARSITE: http://www.firelab.org/document/farsite-software

A 2-D time dependent stochastic spread model, useful for evacuation planning and determining the effectiveness of potential fuel treatments.

• Fire Family Plus: http://www.firelab.org/project/firefamilyplus

A modeling software used for fire management purposes, such as planning prescribed burns and determining other management strategies. It uses the probability of certain weather to predict potential outcomes.

 

Inputs for Fire Modeling and Other Tools:

• Weather
  • Interagency Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS): http://raws.fam.nwcg.gov/links.html? (provides list of resources), http://www.raws.dri.edu/ (for downloading weather data, including humidity, wind speeds, moisture content, air temperature, historical weather, etc.)
  • Local weather microgrids (Southern California): http://sawti.fs.fed.us/#8/33.995/-119.192
  • Pertinent weather parameters
    • Humidity
    • Wind speeds
    • Moisture content
      • Dead fuel moisture from US Forest Service Wildland Fire Assessment System: http://www.wfas.net/index.php/dead-fuel-moisture-moisture–drought-38
      • Fuel moisture Database:
      • http://www.wfas.net/index.php/national-fuel-moisture-database-moisture-drought-103
    • Air temperature
    • Historical weather
  • Spatial data & Past Fires
    • LANDFIRE: landfire.gov

Provides fuel and topography data mapped across the United States, including slope, fuel models, vegetation, fire regimes, etc. Provides .lcp files needed for FARSITE and FlamMap simulations.

• GeoMAC (Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination): http://www.geomac.gov/about.shtml

Provides information on past and active fire perimeter data.

• Fuel models
  • Anderson’s 13 Fuel Models (Aids to Determining Fuel Models For Estimating Fire Behavior): http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr122.pdf
  • Scott & Burgen’s 40 Fuel Models (Standard Fire Behavior Fuel Models: A Comprehensive Set for Use with Rothermel’s Surface Fire Spread Model): http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr153.pdf

An extension of the original 13 models. LANDFIRE provides fuel model data in either form (of the original 13 or newer 40).

 

Community & homeowner checklists and programs

• Firewise: http://www.firewise.org/?sso=0 and http://www.firewise.org/wildfire-preparedness.aspx

An NFPA program with resources for community planning and homeowner checklists for home and lot wildfire hazard mitigation.

• Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS): https://disastersafety.org/wildfire/wildfire-checklist/

Provides checklists for homeowners living in areas affected by natural disasters (including wildfires) to determine their home vulnerability.

• Ready, set, go!: http://www.wildlandfirersg.org/

A multi-agency program with resources for state and local wildfire preparedness programs. Also provides resources for homeowners.

• Fire Adapted Communities: http://www.fireadapted.org/

A resource for communities that approach wildfire risk mitigation on multiple levels: homeowner responsibility, neighbor to neighbor interactions, and whole community responsibility.

 

Codes and Standards

• NFPA 1141: Standard for fire protection infrastructure for land development in wildland, rural, and suburban areas
• NFPA 1142: Standard on water supplies for suburban and rural firefighting
• NFPA 1143: Standard for wildland fire management
• NFPA 1144: Standard for reducing structure ignition hazards from wildland fire
• ICC WUI Code: International Wildland-Urban Interface Code
• California Building Code Chapter 7A: Materials and Construction Methods for Exterior Wildfire Exposure

 

	Infrastructure	Community Design	Pre-plan /Assessment	Building Components and Systems
NFPA
1141	Water supply	Access/Egress; Building separation	Community Safety	Automatic sprinklers; manual systems
1142	Water supply
1144			Structure ignition zone; fuel modification	Construction materials
ICC	Water supply	Access/Egress; Building separation	Fire protection plan; defensible space; fuel modification	Construction materials
CBC				Roofing; vents; exterior covering; windows and doors; decking; accessory structures

 

 

Risk Assessments and Mapping:

• Regional scale, Joe Scott
  • Scott, Joe H.; Thompson, Matthew P.; Calkin, David E. 2013. A wildfire risk assessment framework for land and resource management. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-315. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 83 p.
• ArcGIS – GIS mapping tool, not wildland fire specific (expensive)
  • https://www.arcgis.com/features/
• QGIS – GIS mapping tool, not wildland fire specific (freeware, but without direct plugin to generate .lcp files for FARSITE/LANDFIRE)
  • http://www.qgis.org/en/site/

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