The Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, held its annual Wildland Urban Interface Advisory Committee (WAC) meeting to share updates and provide direction for FSRI’s wildland urban interface (WUI) research. The WAC was established in 2023 to support and inform these research initiatives, with the goal of improving community resilience to wildfires that spread into the built environment. Each year, the WAC holds an in-person meeting at a location that has been recently affected by wildfires to better contextualize the ongoing research projects. This year’s meeting was hosted by Mike Morgan, Director of Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, and was held in Boulder, Colorado, engaging with and learning from local fire chiefs and first responders who responded to the Marshall Fire in 2021.
Sharing Updates on 2024 Research Progress and Plans
The first day of the meeting kicked off with an introduction of each WAC member and their roles and responsibilities in the WUI space. FSRI researchers then shared updates from their work over the past year, including studies on heat transfer through windows and exterior wall assemblies, review of the Maui wildfires analysis, an introduction to the California wildfires analysis effort, and a status of the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) project. These presentations led to discussions about how these research results and upcoming studies could be incorporated within codes, standards, local policy, building design and materials manufacturing processes to improve fire resilience. With these updates in mind, FSRI amplification team members led a workshop to reevaluate stakeholder needs in the WUI space. This workshop pulled from the expertise of WAC members to identify gaps in knowledge, resources, and public misconceptions seen in their communities and networks across the country. Together, they brainstormed potential solutions, utilizing pooled resources and experience. The workshop also prompted consideration of the target audiences for WUI work and collaboration for effective ways to reach those groups. These conversations will be used to best apply the capabilities of FSRI’s Education & Training and Public Education teams.
The second day began with a roundtable discussion of all the work WAC members are doing with their home organizations, ranging from research and code updates to public education and implementation of the Maui fires analysis recommendations. The breadth of the committee’s network resulted in an enthusiastic generation of ideas and numerous action items for everyone to take home.
Learning from the East Troublesome and Marshall Fires
Following the roundtable, the meeting turned to focus on the East Troublesome and Marshall Fires, starting with presentations by the fire chiefs and sheriffs from the affected areas. They covered background information on fire conditions, weather, geographical and resource challenges, first responder actions, evacuation procedures, and ultimate outcomes of the fires.
They also shared post-fire considerations for their departments and communities, and how they are using the lessons learned from these tragedies to be better prepared in the future. Many of these apply to all communities: If it weren’t winter break, how would you evacuate schools, both K-12 children and college students? With limited resources, how do you choose what to defend? What do you do if all your apparatus are damaged in the fire? What mental health resources are available for people returning to destroyed homes and businesses? Are safety codes in place, with sufficient public education and understanding, for people to build back better? While contemplating these questions, the group then embarked on a guided tour of the neighborhoods affected by the Marshall fire to better understand how it evolved and how the community is rebuilding.
WAC members, led by Louisville Fire Protection District Chief John Wilson, toured the areas affected by the Marshall Fire in 2021.
Throughout the ride, the sheriff and fire personnel pointed out many of the landmarks previously discussed in their presentation, including the area of origin, and incident command post locations. They highlighted areas where structure defense evacuation challenges were experienced, and where firefighters were able to defend structures in hurricane force conditions. They also discussed the efforts to rebuild and the challenges, both community-wide and individual, along the way. This information and experience connected the lived experiences of these WUI fires to the science at the core of FSRI’s research.
Following this meeting, FSRI will review these suggestions and ideas to improve ongoing and future research initiatives. The WAC will next meet virtually this fall to continue the dialogue.
