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Resilient development

Resilient development integrates wildfire risk into the way communities are planned, built and managed, reducing exposure and vulnerability before disasters occur.

Preventing new development in the highest-risk areas, maintaining defensible space around settlements, protecting critical infrastructure and preserving natural buffers can all help reduce the likelihood that wildfires become catastrophic disasters.

Resilient building and mitigation practices are a cornerstone of this approach. Fire-resistant construction materials, ember-resistant design, appropriate roofing and ventilation systems, and the use of building codes tailored to wildfire hazards can significantly improve the survivability of homes and public infrastructure.

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Colorado may force new homes in wildfire-prone areas to adhere to a state building code

Fire chiefs fearing disaster from wildfires where open space meets urban areas are joining lawmakers to push for a statewide board with power to define wildland-urban interface danger zones and impose preventive building codes on local governments.

The Colorado Sun
Houses with wildfire smoke in the background
Research briefs
CSU researchers design model that predicts which buildings will survive wildfire

CSU engineers have developed a model that can predict how wildfire will impact a community down to which buildings will burn. They say predicting damage to the built environment is essential to developing fire mitigation strategies and steps for recovery.

Colorado State University
Update
Could a buffer shield Californian homes from wildfire?

Four years ago, the town of Paradise, California was devastated by fire. Could a buffer around the town protect it from future disaster?

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Research briefs
NIST study finds wildfire hazards in residential fences and mulch beds

When building fences and landscaping their properties, homeowners should keep fire safety on the top of their minds, especially if they live in a wildfire-prone region, according to a new study.

National Institute of Standards and Technology
A blazing wildfire starts to encroach on residential areas in Braga, Portugal
Update
Flood and wildfire risks: Translating risk ratings into future costs can help homebuyers and renters grasp the odds – and act on them

In theory, summarizing risk information like this should help homebuyers and renters make more informed housing choices. But surveys show it isn’t working yet. Housing developments and home sales are still expanding in flood- and wildfire-prone areas.

Conversation Media Group, the
Update
The cheaper we build our buildings, the more they cost after an earthquake, wildfire or tornado

Engineers, architects and builders can design and construct affordable new buildings that can resist tornadoes, floods and wildfires without making the buildings into bunkers. We could also design earthquake-resilient buildings, but do not.

Conversation Media Group, the
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Documents and publications
A wildfire vulnerability index for buildings

This paper presents an innovative solution for the vulnerability assessment to wildfires, making use of an all-relevant feature selection algorithm established on statistical relationships to develop a physical vulnerability index.

Nature Scientific Reports
Download page of the RMS report
Documents and publications
Quantifying avoided loss to hard infrastructure from hazardous fuels reduction

Partnering with the American Forest Foundation, RMS utilized its U.S. Wildfire model to quantify how forest treatment mitigation and resiliency measures can lower the wildfire risk.

Risk Management Solutions
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