While the wildland urban interface (WUI) is a term commonly known in areas that experience wildfires, it may not be common to your fire department.
The WUI is the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development. It is the line, area or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.
More than 60,000 communities in the United States are at risk for WUI fires.
Between 2002 and 2016, an average of over 3,000 structures were lost to WUI fires in the United States.
The WUI area continues to grow by approximately 2 million acres per year.
Sources: National Association of State Foresters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and National Institute of Standards and Technology
In your area, you may have brush fires, grass fires, forest fires or outdoor fires. These fires can have the same impact when they occur close to homes, neighborhoods and communities. Communities need to understand the risks and make changes to their environments to make them less susceptible to fire.