DEFINING THE WILDFIRE PROBLEM Clause Samples

DEFINING THE WILDFIRE PROBLEM. Each year nationally, firefighters combine efforts to successfully contain approximately ninety- seven percent of wildfires at less than ten acres. This success is a direct result of favorable weather and fuels conditions, early fire reporting, and a rapid and aggressive fire suppression response. However, when an ignition occurs during unfavorable weather and fuel conditions, or when firefighting assets are committed to fighting simultaneous wildfires, a new fire has the potential to escape the efforts of initial attack firefighters. The probability of a catastrophic wildfire occurring at any particular location within or adjacent to the Project Area is dependent on a chain of events that includes fire ignition, fire weather, fuel, heat transfer, topography, fire behavior, suppression actions taken, and the interaction of these factors. To understand the wildfire problem in the Project Area requires an understanding of fire ecology, the expansion of the human development into wildland areas, the influences of a changing climate, fire history, and the wildland fire environment.