Fire in the City: The Reality of Urban Wildfire Risk.
- Jeni Gunn
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
A common misconception about wildfires is that they start somewhere in a forest, spread through the trees until the fire arrives at the edge of town as a massive wall of flame, and any home in it's path ignites through direct contact with the flames.
In reality, most wildfires begin as surface fires burning in grass or light woody debris, resulting in floating embers.
Homeowners who live in dense, established neighborhoods outside the wildland-urban interface can feel not at risk from wildfires because they’re not in or right next to the forest. This is simply not true.
That’s because the embers- tiny, fragile, smouldering bits of fuel – get airborne and travel an average of 2 kilometers before landing.
Take this neighborhood for example...
The photo above is the red dot on the map, and well within the 2km ember "danger zone" if a fire started in the nearby parkland.
Embers have actually been documented travelling as far as 17 kilometres, but that's not typical. Conditions like wind and convection influence where embers go, but homeowners have some control over the type of surfaces embers land on, and how much fuel they have to start new fires.
When embers land on a surface with little fuel, they burn out very quickly.
However, when they land on combustible materials, they can ignite. Because they’re so tiny, embers infiltrate wood piles, hide under decks, land in tall grass or even an eavestrough filled with plant matter, smoldering undetected for hours before igniting a fire that can potentially devastate an entire neighborhood.
What can we do?
First, learn how to FireSmart your home or business.
The FireSmart program is an incredible resource, with step-by-step instructions on making an Emergency Plan, how to improve wildfire resilience, to landscaping guides for fire resilient plants or fire-resistant building materials.
Whether you follow FireSmart or another program like FireWise from the National Interagency Fire Center, they have information on ways to improve your wildfire resilience.
Learn how to FireSmart your home here: Wildfire Begins At Home
Be Ember Aware: Use this checklist created by the University of Nevada to see how ember resilient your home is.
Second, explore what your community has done to prepare for wildfires.
Look on your town or municipality website to see if they have done a Community Wildfire Risk Assessment. They go under different names- Community Wildfire Resilience Plan (CWRP) or something similar.
This will tell you a lot about the hazards, risks and vulnerabilities are in your region, what the evacuation plans are for your community, and what your community leaders are doing to address the hazards.
By learning more about wildfire activity, urban residents can significantly reduce the risk of wildfire ember ignition, and improve resilience for their family and community!
Ask about a free FireSmart assessment! Reach out to resiliencelab.vic@gmail.com