Could we protect all western US communities from wildfires and facilitate restoring fire to wildlands within a decade?

A new study in Environmental Research: Ecology investigates how fires have burned into communities and explores ways to use fire-resistant land uses along with fuel treatments to reduce fires reaching communities. The research indicates some land uses, like grasslands, chaparral, and wildland vegetation, are highly vulnerable to wildfires, while others, such as cultivated crops, freeways, lakes, rivers, and deserts, are fire-resistant.

Wildland vegetation and extremely dangerous land uses were responsible for 95% and 88% of fires burning into communities from 2000-2021, respectively, while safe land uses were involved in just 6%. Dr. Jon Keeley, a fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, noted that fifty years ago, fewer people lived in some areas, and fires often burned out before reaching homes due to the presence of safe land uses like irrigated orchards.

To protect communities, it is recommended that a system of buffers be established around community boundaries, with distances varying based on fire concerns. These buffers would ideally be placed to minimize the risk of fires spreading into the community, with the outermost buffer (5,000 m or 3.1 miles) being the maximum distance at which embers may ignite a fire.

The study also emphasizes the importance of federal funding and collaboration among communities to implement these protective measures within a decade, which would also allow for the refocusing of wildfire management efforts towards ecological restoration.