Public: Wildfire Safety & Property Protection

Wildfires frequently occur in the Southeastern US. The question is not if, but when and under what conditions they will occur, and how severe will they be? The vision of the Cohesive Fire Strategy  is to ..."as a nation, learn to live with wildland fire." Complete wildfire prevention is not realistic due to several variables: drought, dense vegetation, human error, lightning, and more. During wildfire operations, sufficient fire suppression resources are not always available to protect every structure from damage. For these reasons and more, it is imperative that residents and communities be proactive, readying themselves and their homes for wildfire. Relatively small investments of time and energy go a long way towards protecting lives, homes, and communities during a wildfire!

Know your wildfire risk

Do you live in a high wildfire risk area? Knowing your potential wildfire risk allows you to be proactive in protecting yourself, your loved ones, your property, and your community.

Home and community wildfire protection resources

There are numerous resources available to protect yourself, your property, and community from a potential wildfire.

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Definitions

Wildland Fire
Any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland, including prescribed fire, wildfire, and wildland fire use.

National Wildfire Coordinating Group definition
Wildfire
An unplanned, unwanted wildland fire including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to put the fire out.

National Wildfire Coordinating Group definition
Prescribed Fire
Any fire ignited by management actions under certain, predetermined conditions to meet specific objectives related to hazardous fuels or habitat improvement. A written, approved prescribed fire plan must exist, and NEPA requirements must be met, prior to ignition.

USDA Forest Service definition
Firewise
A national program that empowers and supports homeowners to take individual responsibility for protecting their homes against wildfire risk.

http://www.firewise.org
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
A mechanism used to address community wildfire risk and usually is a detailed plan catered to specific community needs.

Certified Prescribed Burner
A person who has completed the training and/or other requirements within their state to be afforded protection from a specified degree of liability.