Editing Wildfire (section)

== Prevention and mitigation ==
{{See also|Fire protection|}}
[[File:Healthy Hillsides - a project in Rhondda Cynon Taf between NRW and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.webm|thumb|240px|A short video on managing and protecting the natural habitat between a town and the hillside, from the risk of fire.]]

Wildfire prevention refers to the preemptive methods aimed at reducing the risk of fires as well as lessening its severity and spread.<ref>Karki, 6.</ref> Prevention techniques aim to manage air quality, maintain ecological balances, protect resources,<ref name="van Wagtendonk, 14">van Wagtendonk (2007), 14.</ref> and to affect future fires.<ref>van Wagtendonk (1996), 1156.</ref> Prevention policies must consider the role that humans play in wildfires, since, for example, 95% of forest fires in [[Europe]] are related to human involvement.<ref>San-Miguel-Ayanz, ''et al.'', 361.</ref>

Wildfire prevention programs around the world may employ techniques such as ''wildland fire use'' (WFU) and ''prescribed or [[controlled burn]]s''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561501139/backburn.html|title=Backburn|publisher=MSN Encarta|access-date=9 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710223715/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561501139/backburn.html|archive-date=10 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/gb/gb_1.htm|title=UK: The Role of Fire in the Ecology of Heathland in Southern Britain|journal=International Forest Fire News|volume=18|date=January 1998|pages=80–81|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716212702/http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/gb/gb_1.htm|archive-date=16 July 2011|access-date=9 July 2009}}</ref> ''Wildland fire use'' refers to any fire of natural causes that is monitored but allowed to burn. ''Controlled burns'' are fires ignited by government agencies under less dangerous weather conditions.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.smokeybear.com/prescribed-fires.asp | title = Prescribed Fires | publisher = SmokeyBear.com | access-date = 21 November 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081020171425/http://www.smokeybear.com/prescribed-fires.asp | archive-date = 20 October 2008 }}</ref> Other objectives can include maintenance of healthy forests, rangelands, and wetlands, and support of ecosystem diversity.<ref name="US F&W Fire Mgt">{{cite web |title=Fire Management: Wildland Fire Use |url=https://www.fws.gov/fire/what_we_do/wildland_fire_use.shtml |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=26 September 2021 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101065507/https://www.fws.gov/fire/what_we_do/wildland_fire_use.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Prescribed burn in a Pinus nigra stand in Portugal.JPG|thumb|left|alt=A small fire on the slope of a hill. The hill features small, green shrubbery and some trees. A person in light-colored clothing in seen in the background, some distance from the flames.|A prescribed burn in a ''[[Pinus nigra]]'' stand in Portugal]]

Strategies for wildfire prevention, detection, control and suppression have varied over the years.<ref>{{cite web|title=International Experts Study Ways to Fight Wildfires|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-06-24-voa7-68788387/411212.html|access-date=9 July 2009|date=24 June 2009|publisher=Voice of America (VOA) News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107041028/http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-06-24-voa7-68788387.html|archive-date=7 January 2010}}</ref> One common and inexpensive technique to reduce the risk of uncontrolled wildfires is [[controlled burn]]ing: intentionally igniting smaller less-intense fires to minimize the amount of flammable material available for a potential wildfire.<ref name="IS">''Interagency Strategy for the Implementation of the Federal Wildland Fire Policy'', entire text</ref><ref>''National Wildfire Coordinating Group Communicator's Guide For Wildland Fire Management'', entire text</ref> Vegetation may be burned periodically to limit the accumulation of plants and other debris that may serve as fuel, while also maintaining high species diversity.<ref name=":3">''Fire. The Australian Experience'', 5–6.</ref><ref name=":4">Graham, ''et al''., 15.</ref> While other people claim that controlled burns and a policy of allowing some wildfires to burn is the cheapest method and an ecologically appropriate policy for many forests, they tend not to take into account the economic value of resources that are consumed by the fire, especially merchantable timber.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Noss|first1=Reed F.|last2=Franklin|first2=Jerry F.|last3=Baker|first3=William L.|author4-link=Tania Schoennagel|last4=Schoennagel|first4=Tania|last5=Moyle|first5=Peter B.|date=1 November 2006|title=Managing fire-prone forests in the western United States|journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment|language=en|volume=4|issue=9|pages=481–487|doi=10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[481:MFFITW]2.0.CO;2|issn=1540-9309|url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7478&context=facultybib2000|access-date=3 December 2019|archive-date=13 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213085922/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7478&context=facultybib2000|url-status=live}}</ref> Some studies conclude that while fuels may also be removed by logging, such thinning treatments may not be effective at reducing fire severity under extreme weather conditions.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Lydersen|first1=Jamie M.|last2=North|first2=Malcolm P.|last3=Collins|first3=Brandon M.|date=15 September 2014|title=Severity of an uncharacteristically large wildfire, the Rim Fire, in forests with relatively restored frequent fire regimes|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258959|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=328|pages=326–334|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.005|bibcode=2014ForEM.328..326L |access-date=16 July 2019|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213213223/https://zenodo.org/record/1258959|url-status=live}}<!-- https://zenodo.org/record/1258959--></ref>

Building codes in fire-prone areas typically require that structures be built of flame-resistant materials and a [[defensible space (fire control)|defensible space]] be maintained by clearing flammable materials within a prescribed distance from the structure.<ref name=":8">{{cite web | url = http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/downloads/FHSZBSR_Backgrounder.pdf | title = California's Fire Hazard Severity Zone Update and Building Standards Revision | publisher = CAL FIRE | date = May 2007 | access-date = 18 December 2008 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090226080558/http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/downloads/FHSZBSR_Backgrounder.pdf | archive-date = 26 February 2009 }}</ref><ref name=":9">{{cite web | url = http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1551-1600/sb_1595_bill_20080927_chaptered.pdf | title = California Senate Bill No. 1595, Chapter 366 | publisher = State of California | date = 27 September 2008 | access-date = 18 December 2008 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120330120658/http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1551-1600/sb_1595_bill_20080927_chaptered.pdf | archive-date = 30 March 2012 }}</ref> Communities in the [[Philippines]] also maintain [[fire line]]s {{convert|5|to|10|m|sp=us|ft}} wide between the forest and their village, and patrol these lines during summer months or seasons of dry weather.<ref>Karki, 14.</ref> Continued residential development in fire-prone areas and rebuilding structures destroyed by fires has been met with criticism.<ref name="Trial2">{{cite web | url = http://www.onearth.org/article/our-trial-by-fire?page=2 | title = Our Trial by Fire | last = Manning | first = Richard | publisher = onearth.org | date = 1 December 2007 | access-date = 7 January 2009 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080630035505/http://www.onearth.org/article/our-trial-by-fire?page=2 | archive-date = 30 June 2008 }}</ref> The ecological benefits of fire are often overridden by the economic and safety benefits of protecting structures and human life.<ref name="NOAA">{{cite web | url = http://www.economics.noaa.gov/?goal=ecosystems&file=events/fire/ | title = Extreme Events: Wild & Forest Fire | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | access-date = 7 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090114111211/http://www.economics.noaa.gov/?goal=ecosystems&file=events%2Ffire%2F | archive-date = 14 January 2009 }}</ref>

===Goat grazing programs===
As climate change drives more frequent and more intense wildfires, more effort is being given to mitigation of fire potential by active measures such as managing fire fuels (ground cover, weeds, small shrubs, [[coyote brush]], etc). In Northern California, for example, [[goat]] herds have been used in many communities to reduce the amount of fire fuels on the outskirts of some communities. It is estimated that 60 to 80,000 goats were thus employed by 2024.<ref>{{cite news |title=Meet the firefighting goats of California (podcast) |url=https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-429-what-on-earth/clip/16146900-meet-firefighting-goats-california |access-date=18 May 2025 |work=What On Earth with Laura Lynch |agency=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=16 May 2025}}</ref>