June 12, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Kate Anderson, Sightline Institute, kate@sightline.org
FULL ARTICLE: The best wildfire solution we’re not using
The best and possibly only practical way to protect homes from fire is to stop building so many of them in wildfire-prone places. New analysis from Pacific Northwest regional think tank Sightline Institute explains how these houses trap us on a wildfire treadmill by impeding efforts to fight fire with fire. They also swell public spending on firefighting and preparedness.
Sightline suggests three policies to help communities curb construction in the “wildland-urban interface” (WUI), the area currently seeing the fastest growth in new homes. These include 1) channeling growth within towns and cities to avoid sprawling into the WUI, 2) eliminating supports for mortgages, insurance, and infrastructure in fireplains, and 3) no longer shielding new houses from the full costs of moving into highly risky areas.
“This year’s early fire season is a harbinger of the future. Millions of people are having to evacuate or are suffering the health hazards of the smoke,” says Kate Anderson, senior researcher at the think tank Sightline Institute. “The more we build into our wildlands, the worse the wildfire burden is for everybody. More houses in the WUI ties the hands of wildfire professionals who could otherwise use fire to fight fire and help us get off the wildfire treadmill.”
Read Anderson’s full analysis: The best wildfire solution we’re not using
Related:
- We’re stuck on a wildfire treadmill | And to escape, we need more fire, not less.
- Uncontainable wildfires are inevitable. Community destruction is not. | Five policy shifts could help communities harden their homes against fire danger.
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Kate Anderson is Senior Researcher in Sightline Institute’s Farms and Forests program, leading the organization’s work on rural lands and economies. View her bio and latest research, and find her on Twitter.
Sightline Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of housing, democracy, forests, and energy policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.
