Wildfire Prevention in the Pacific Northwest

By: Frank Came

The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires across the Pacific Northwest regions of Canada and the United States necessitate a paradigm shift from a reactive, recovery-focused approach to a proactive, prevention-oriented strategy.

The member jurisdictions of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) —comprising the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and the Canadian provinces and territories of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Yukon— have initiated a coordinated strategic approach to this end in partnership with the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition, a gathering o eleven industry associations focused on the design and construction of more resilient buildings and infrastructure.

This strategy outlines a comprehensive framework for local, state, and provincial governments, as well as businesses, to mitigate wildfire risk, protect life and property, and ensure long-term financial stability.

1. Risk Identification and Assessment

An effective prevention strategy begins with a thorough understanding of the risks. This involves a multi-layered approach to identify and map areas and assets most vulnerable to wildfire.

Government Actions:

Establish a Regional Risk Assessment Framework: PNWER jurisdictions should collaborate to develop a standardized, cross-border risk assessment model. This model should integrate data on vegetation, topography, historical fire data, weather patterns, and the location of critical infrastructure, communities, and businesses.

Create and Publicize Wildfire Hazard Maps: Utilize the risk assessment data to create publicly accessible, high-resolution maps. These maps should clearly delineate areas with high, moderate, and low wildfire risk. This information is crucial for land-use planning, public awareness, and guiding investment in prevention.

Implement Community-Level Exposure Assessments: Encourage and fund programs like FireSmart Canada’s Wildfire Exposure Assessment. These assessments help communities identify specific entry points for wildfire and the “receptive” fuels (flammable materials) that could ignite structures.

Regularly Update Assessments: Wildfire risks are dynamic. Governments must commit to regularly updating risk assessments and hazard maps to account for changes in land use, and new developments.

Business Actions:

Conduct Site-Specific Hazard Analysis: Businesses in high-risk zones should conduct their own hazard analyses, identifying ignition risks, flammable materials on their property, and critical assets. This includes a detailed inventory of equipment and documents.

Consult with Local Authorities: Engage with local fire, forestry, and planning departments to understand specific risks and to align business prevention plans with community-wide strategies.

2. Construction and Risk Reduction

Reducing the vulnerability of homes and businesses to ignition is a cornerstone of a prevention-focused strategy. This involves hardening structures and creating a defensible space around them.

Government Actions:

Mandate and Incentivize Fire-Resistant Construction: Update building codes to require the use of ignition-resistant materials in new construction and major renovations in high-risk areas. This includes Class A fire-rated roofing, non-combustible siding, and tempered or double-paned glass windows.

Implement Defensible Space Regulations: Enact and enforce zoning bylaws and regulations that require a non-combustible defensible space around structures. This “home ignition zone” should be maintained by removing combustible vegetation, trimming back trees, and using non-flammable landscaping materials.

Launch Retrofit Programs: Provide financial incentives, such as grants or tax credits, for property owners to retrofit existing homes and businesses with fire-resistant materials.

Support Forest Management: Invest in fuel management programs, including prescribed burns and mechanical thinning, particularly near communities and critical infrastructure. This reduces the intensity and spread of wildfires.

Business Actions:

Harden Facilities: Businesses should prioritize building with and retrofitting existing structures with fire-resistant materials, including roofing, siding, and vents with fine-mesh screens to prevent ember intrusion.

Create a Non-Combustible Perimeter: Establish a defensible space around all buildings and outdoor storage. This includes keeping flammable materials like pallets and propane tanks at least 30 meters (100 feet) away from the building.

Maintain Landscape and Property: Regularly clear vegetation, especially within 100 meters of the facility. Trim grass, irrigate plants, and remove dead leaves and needles from roofs and gutters.

3. Financial Sustainability and Insurability Protection

The financial costs of wildfires are a major barrier to recovery. A sustainable strategy must address the economic impacts and ensure that insurance markets remain viable.

Government Measures:

Incentivize Mitigation with Policy and Regulation: Work with the insurance industry to develop policies that reward property-level mitigation efforts. This could include requiring insurers to offer premium discounts for properties that have been hardened and have a defensible space.

Integrate Natural Disaster Risk into Financial Planning: All levels of government must incorporate wildfire risk into their long-term fiscal planning and investment strategies. This includes allocating funds for prevention, retrofitting programs, and disaster preparedness.

Promote Public-Private Partnerships: Foster collaboration between governments, insurers, and the private sector to develop innovative risk transfer mechanisms and resilience funds. This reduces reliance on public funds for post-disaster recovery.

Support Market Strategies for Timber: Encourage the development of a biomass energy market and other innovative uses for timber from fuel management and forest thinning projects. This helps offset the cost of prevention efforts.

Business Actions:

Invest in Resilience to Lower Costs: Recognize that upfront investments in fire-resistant construction and defensible space are the only sustainable way to manage long-term financial risk. These measures can lead to lower insurance premiums and greater business continuity.

Develop a Business Continuity Plan: Create a comprehensive plan that includes off-site storage of important documents and data, a communication plan for employees and stakeholders, and procedures for safely shutting down operations.

Document and Inventory Assets: Maintain up-to-date inventories of equipment and contents with photographic or video documentation. This streamlines the insurance claims process in the event of a loss.

Engage with Insurers: Work directly with insurance providers to understand their risk mitigation requirements and to ensure that all preventive measures are properly documented to maximize insurability and secure the best possible rates.

Summing Up

Wildfire prevention is critically important in the Pacific Northwest for a combination of economic, environmental, and social reasons. The region’s unique geography and ecology make it particularly vulnerable to wildfires, and the consequences of these fires are becoming more severe due to our changing natural environment.

______________________

Check here for more information on the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER), More information on the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition (PNBRC) is available here.

Frank Came is the Communications  Director for the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition. He can be reached at franktcame@gmail.com