Deadliest Wildfires in California History
Explore the details of the top 10 deadliest wildfires in California state history, from the Camp Fire to the Eaton Fire, with this list from the WFCA.
Explore the details of wildfire mitigation from the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA). Learn when is it, and strategies and techniques to employ.
Published:September 24, 2024
Edited:September 24, 2024
Explore the details of wildfire mitigation from the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA). Learn when is it, and strategies and techniques to employ.
With wildfire seasons lasting longer and fires burning up more acreage every year, it’s more critical than ever to practice proper wildfire mitigation. Read on to learn more about what that is, best practices, and more.
Wildfire mitigation is a collection of practices that are designed to help us minimize the destruction caused by wildfires. It applies not just to state and local governments and fire associations but to individual homeowners, as well.
It’s important to distinguish between wildfire mitigation and prevention of wildfires. With prevention practices, we’re trying to ensure that fires don’t start in the first place. But this is difficult to do, considering that 90% of wildfires are started by humans either deliberately or on accident.1
With mitigation practices, we’re preparing for the day a fire does occur because we recognize that at the end of the day, we can only control our own actions. Despite all our efforts at fire prevention, one could still flare up at any time.
Below are some of the best practices for wildfire mitigation.
Risk assessment is one of the most important wildfire mitigation practices. It helps us identify communities, counties, states, and regions where the risk of a wildfire is highest. After performing a risk assessment, firefighting organizations can develop an effective mitigation plan to fight fires and protect people and property according to the level of risk.
Home hardening is the practice of preparing your home and property in case of a fire. Preparations include ensuring your roof is made of fire-resistant materials, installing metal mesh at the entrance of your vents to prevent embers from flying into the air ducts, and keeping your deck and the areas immediately surrounding your house free of combustible materials.
Get more details on how to harden your home by clicking here.
To protect your property against wildfires, you must create a defensible space. This involves designing the landscape surrounding your home in such a way that your home will not be destroyed in the event of a wildfire.
Learn all about the zones that make up a defensible space and special considerations to make for planting trees and other vegetation here.
Fuels, in this context, refers to any type of vegetation or combustible material that could feed a wildfire. Treating these materials typically involve cutting them back or removing them completely, so that if a fire is headed toward your property, it won’t have anything to burn through to get to your house.
As a homeowner, do you know your risk for wildfires? If not, then it’s important for you to pay attention to risk assessments conducted by your local fire agencies and the US Forestry Service.
If you live in an area with an associated wildfire risk, you should take steps to harden your home, create a defensible space, and treat fuels on your property. These are mitigation practices that are best done sooner rather than later. Wildfire seasons can last for seven months – more than half the year – so don’t put off protecting yourself, your family, and your property.
Another thing that homeowners can do to mitigate wildfires is to pay attention to their state’s fire mitigation plans. If you live in a state like Colorado or California, both of which are at a high risk for fires, your community, your local forest service, and other organizations in that state will produce annual wildfire mitigation plans. These outline their plans for fire mitigation efforts, initiatives, risk models, and more.
In Colorado, over 3 million residents live in wildland-urban interfaces (WUI). These are areas where man-made structures have been built close to or within vegetation that is flammable, and therefore more at risk for catching and spreading fire.2
To help these residents understand their risk and learn how to protect themselves, the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) has set up a webpage for wildfire mitigation. Here, you’ll find lots of useful education materials as well as access to community protection plans and other useful programs.
California is a hotspot for wildfires in the United States. It sees thousands of wildfires per year, and in 2020 the state saw its largest fire in recorded history, the August Complex.3
Every year, PG&E – the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which serves California residents – releases a new wildfire mitigation plan.4 This is a great resource for homeowners in the state, especially if PG&E is their power provider.
Below are some helpful wildfire mitigation resources:
Explore the details of the top 10 deadliest wildfires in California state history, from the Camp Fire to the Eaton Fire, with this list from the WFCA.
Navigate the challenges of wildfire recovery with practical tips on managing insurance and restoring your home, provided with expert guidance from the WFCA.
Explore the details of the top 10 most destructive wildfires in California’s history and how they compare to the Palisades Fire with this list from the WFCA.