New NACo-sponsored guide helps counties deal with wild fires

By Abigail Friedman
Program Director

Since 1960, more than 40,000 homes, plus thousands of other structures have been lost to wildland fires – and the numbers are rising dramatically each year. Local governments are spending more than $500 million a year to fight wildfires, an increasing number of which occur in areas where undeveloped lands meet developed areas — also called the wildland/urban interface.

To help counties protect their communities from the threat of wildfires, NACo joined the International Code Council, International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Volunteer Fire Council and the National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils to produce the 2006 Wildland Urban Interface Community Planning Tool Kit CD.

This resource includes a copy of the International Code Council’s 2006 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, a guide for developing protection plans for local communities, an example of a wildfire protection plan, a list of at-risk communities throughout the U.S. and NACo’s resolution on Wildland Urban Interface Fire.

With the support of the International Code Council, NACo is sending a copy of the CD to the chief elected officials of each member county, in addition to the NACo Board of Directors, the Western Interstate Region Board, the Public Lands Steering Committee and the Environment, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee. The National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Districts will also send each of its members a copy of the CD.

For more information, please contact Abigail Friedman at 202/942-4225 or afriedma@naco.org.