Local mitigation strategy (LMS) - Volusia County Government

SECTION 5: HAZARD PROFILESOTHER HAZARDS5.14 WILDFIRE5.14.1 BackgroundA wildfire is any fire occurring in a wildland area (i.e. grassland forest, brush land) except for fire underprescription. 18 Wildfires are part of the natural management of forest ecosystems, but may also becaused by human factors. Nationally, over 80 percent of forest fires are started by negligent humanbehavior such as smoking in wooded areas or improperly extinguishing campfires. The second mostcommon cause for wildfire is lightning.There are three classes of wildland fires: surface, ground and crown fire. A surface fire is the mostcommon of these three classes and burns along the floor of a forest, moving slowly and killing ordamaging trees. A ground fire (muck fire) is usually started by lightning or human carelessness and burnson or below the forest floor. Crown fires spread rapidly by wind and move quickly by jumping along thetops of trees. Wildland fires are usually signaled by dense smoke that fills the area for miles around.Wildfire probability depends on local weather conditions, outdoor activities such as camping, debrisburning, and construction, and the degree of public cooperation with fire prevention measures. Droughtconditions and other natural hazards (such as tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.) increase the probability ofwildfires by producing fuel in both urban and rural settings. Forest damage from hurricanes andtornadoes may also block interior access roads and fire breaks, pull down overhead power lines, ordamage pavement and underground utilities.Many individual homes and cabins, subdivisions, resorts, recreational areas, organizational camps,businesses and industries are located within high wildfire hazard areas. Further, the increasing demandfor outdoor recreation places more people in wildlands during holidays, weekends and vacation periods.Unfortunately, wildland residents and visitors are rarely educated or prepared for wildfire events thatcan sweep through the brush and timber and destroy property within minutes.Wildfires can result in severe economic losses as well. Businesses that depend on timber, such as papermills and lumber companies, experience losses that are often passed along to consumers through higherprices. In cases, this has resulted in the loss of jobs. The high cost of responding to and recovering fromwildfires can deplete state resources and increase insurance rates. The economic impact of wildfires canalso be felt in the tourism industry if roads and tourist attractions are closed due to health and safetyconcerns.State and local governments can impose fire safety regulations on home sites and developments to helpcurb wildfire. Land treatment measures such as fire access roads, water storage, helipads, safety zones,buffers, firebreaks, fuel breaks and fuel management can be designed as part of an overall fire defense18 Prescription burning, or “controlled burn,” undertaken by land management agencies is the process of igniting fires underselected conditions, in accordance with strict parameters.Volusia County Multi-jurisdictional Local Mitigation StrategyFebruary 20105:65