Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team

The core of the WiRē approach includes two central data collection efforts:

1. A parcel-level WiRē Rapid Wildfire Risk Assessment (WiRē RA) is conducted based on attributes related to building materials, vegetation near the home, background fuels, topography, and fire department access to the parcel. The WiRē RA is an indicator of the relative risk of wildfire on a private land parcel within a community rather than an absolute measure of risk.
2. Social surveys of the residents of the assessed parcels are conducted to investigate homeowners’ notions of wildfire risk, risk mitigation behaviors, and barriers and incentives to mitigate wildfire risk on private land parcels.

The WiRē approach aims to empower the voices of wildfire practitioner partners with comprehensive data and analyses that reflect the entire community, not just the vocal few. Wildfire practitioner partners participate in the data collection process and share the results with their communities. Experience has demonstrated that sharing the results from the systematic data collection with the community provides a common platform for constructive discussion about adapting to wildfire. At a broader scale, the WiRē Team collaborates with the WiRē Center, a nonprofit organization that works directly with wildfire practitioners to seek locally-tailored pathways to create fire adapted communities and advance understanding of effective pathways to community wildfire adaptation. The WiRē Center specifically manages, compiles, and analyzes data collected across communities to provide insights across space and time with respect to wildfire risk on private land and the characteristics, knowledge, and experience of the people who live on those parcels. These data are an important contribution to the state of knowledge regarding private land and wildfire risk.

For more on the basics of wildfire risk and ways to proactively reduce it, see Wildfire Risk 101.

How Does WiRē Work?

The WiRē Team produced a series of three illustrated videos to help users understand their work.

1. An Innovative Approach to Understanding Communities introduces the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team and explains how they are helping communities adapt to wildfire.
2. Applying the WiRē Approach delves into the details of the WiRē Team and how they work.
3. Becoming more fire adapted through better understanding of the community describes how a better understanding of a community can be used to develop more effective wildfire programs.