The vast majority of wildfires occur outside the wildland-urban interface. But protecting against fires inside this zone is far more costly. The Forest Service analyzed its federal wildland fire suppression spending for 1994. The high cost to protect relatively few acres should alarm taxpayers, especially as more people move to dream houses in the interface zone, assuming that taxpayers will pay to protect their homes at any cost. Educating homeowners to take simple precautions is a needed first step Education of private property owners in these forested areas is essential to the success of fire prevention.
Simple measures can go a long way toward preventing homes from burning down.
Local and state authorities must work with the federal government to intensify educational programs that encourage fire-safe property maintenance. Insurance companies can play a minor role by promoting policies that encourage fire-safe property maintenance. However, because fire risk is not a significant component of insurance rates, the potential effectiveness of such incentives is limited. 3 Insurance companies could work to educate homeowners of the potential risks, thereby reducing the companies' liability and the overall cost to policyholders. But property owners must take independent action to reduce the risk of wildfire, if there is to be any hope of solving the wildland-urban interface problem.