The challenge
Homes near wildland are lost to wildfire, and individual owners rarely act alone to reduce risk.
The case
The National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit, launched Firewise USA in 2002 with US federal and state forestry partners. Communities join by forming a committee, getting a wildfire risk assessment, making an action plan and logging yearly risk-reduction work such as clearing brush near homes. More than 3,000 communities have joined. Evidence on whether it reduces losses is limited. A 2018 national study found buildings closer to Firewise communities were destroyed less often, but for 76% of destroyed buildings the nearest Firewise community was set up only after the fire. A 2025 conference study estimated a 12.5 percentage point drop in a community’s chance of having a fire after joining, but wealthier and higher-risk areas were more likely to join.
Why the results were mixed
Voluntary, neighbour-led action builds awareness cheaply, but uptake is self-selected and there is still little rigorous proof that it saves homes.
Sources
- Kramer, H. A., Mockrin, M. H., Alexandre, P. M., Stewart, S. I. & Radeloff, V. C. (2018). Where wildfires destroy buildings in the US relative to the wildland–urban interface and national fire outreach programs. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27(5), 329–341.
- Foreman, T. (2025). Community programs support wildfire risk reduction. EGU General Assembly 2025, abstract EGU25-15881.
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