About Firewise
The national Firewise Communities program is a multi-agency
effort designed to reach beyond the fire service by involving homeowners,
community leaders, planners, developers, and others in the effort to protect
people, property, and natural resources from the risk of wildland fire -
before a fire starts. The Firewise Communities approach emphasizes community
responsibility for planning in the design of a safe community as well as
effective emergency response, and individual responsibility for safer home
construction and design, landscaping, and maintenance.
The national Firewise Communities program is intended to serve as a resource
for agencies, tribes, organizations, fire departments, and communities across
the U.S. who are working toward a common goal: reduce loss of lives, property,
and resources to wildland fire by building and maintaining communities in
a way that is compatible with our natural surroundings.
Firewise Communities is part of the National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire
Program, which is directed and sponsored by the Wildland/Urban Interface
Working Team (WUIWT) of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, a consortium
of wildland fire organizations and federal agencies responsible for wildland
fire management in the United States. The WUIWT includes: USDA Forest Service,
USDI Bureau of Indian Affairs, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI Fish
and Wildlife Service, USDI National Park Service, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, US Fire Administration, International Association of Fire Chiefs,
National Association of State Fire Marshals, National Association of State
Foresters, National Emergency Management Association, National Fire Protection
Association.
