The 2002 fire season has sparked a heated debate about wildfires. Though the Bush administration and the logging industry still claim that logging prevents forest fires, both Big Timber and the environmental community can agree on one thing: fireproofing homes is a relatively simple and effective way to prevent wildfires-and save lives and tax dollars.

"Homeowners who are largely ignorant of the fact that they've built their homes in a fire plain are now experiencing floods: floods of fire," says Dr. Tim Ingalsbee, director of the Western Fire Ecology Center. Along with logging, drought and a century of fire suppression, the increasing number of people building in the wildland-urban interface (the zone where forests and human development meet), has put more homes-and lives-at risk.

The interface is quickly developing: Population growth rates near national forests are among the highest in the U.S. There are now ten times as many homes in areas prone to wildfire as there were 25 years ago. Urban sprawl, population growth and technology that allows people to work and live away from urban centers have all contributed to the zone's rapid growth. So far, insurance companies don't charge higher rates for homes in the "fire plain." The Forest Service doesn't charge these homeowners (not any more than they charge the rest of us, anyway) to put fires out. And local governments have few incentives to slow development in high risk areas.

In recent years, firefighting costs have risen dramatically. More than half of federal fire management funds are spent on emergency wildfire suppression. A Forest Service memo estimates this year's firefighting costs at $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. The agency estimates that a third of all fire suppression dollars are spent defending the wildland-urban interface. If homeowners took appropriate measures to protect their homes from fire, these figures could be drastically reduced.

"The single most effective and quickest step that we can take is for individual homeowners to create defensible space around their homes," says William Romme, professor of forest fire science at Colorado State University. The majority of homes catch fire when firebrands, or burning embers, blow onto roofs or surrounding vegetation, so installing a fire resistant roof, storing flammable objects at least 30 feet away and planting fire-resistant vegetation within 200 feet from a home can save it. According to Dr. Ingalsbee, simple and inexpensive fire prevention tactics can increase a home's survivability rate by up to 90 percent. Proper prevention measures not only help homes survive fire, but can also turn homes and entire communities into zones that stop fire by depriving it of fuel, called fuel breaks, making homes and communities a part of the solution rather than the problem.

Because individuals have historically been slow to fire-proof their homes, the responsibility of fire prevention often falls to city and state policy makers. Although the majority of Western towns have not adopted new wildfire codes (even El Paso, one of the most high-risk areas in Colorado, still permits cedar-shingle roofs on houses in the forest), many have begun to work with fire agencies, insurance companies and city planners to ensure that their homes are safe from future fires.

After the June Rodeo-Chediski fire destroyed 450 homes in Sho Low, Arizona, the town is drafting ordinances that will require building with fire resistant materials. In Colorado, 39 of its 64 counties have voluntarily participated in programs to improve building codes and firefighter training.

Bend, Oregon is another good example. The town became a pilot community for the FireFree program after a 1990 fire burned 21 homes and structures and a 1996 fire burned another 30. FireFree is a progressive, fire prevention program incorporating the local fire department, the fire district, city planning and a nearby national forest. The program has enabled Bend to map wildfire hazard zones, institute a fuel break ordinance to assure the creation of defensible space and hold property owners accountable by establishing penalties for noncompliance. The city also amended its building code to address issues of water availability, slope, property accessibility and block length.

"Ultimately, it is the main right and responsibility of homeowners to manage the structures and vegetation on their own private lands to reduce home ignitability," says Dr. Ingalsbee. "It should not be the burden of taxpayers throughout the country to pay the economic costs and environmental impacts of extensive fuels reduction projects on public lands."

Together, homeowners and communities can help slow the flood of fire, saving their homes, tax dollars and lives. A new approach to wildfire prevention may also save us from a renewed agenda in the White House to log our national forests.

More on wildfires
Solutions: Fire-Proofing Homes in the "Fire Plain"
Federal Fire Sham: Logging and Fire Risk
"We had to destroy the village to save it"
Wildfire Basics: Q&A with Dr. Tim Ingalsbee
Yellowstone: The Vital Role of Wildfires
U.S. Wildfire History