Mind the Gap: What We Still Need to Learn about Wildfire

What are the market and research gaps preventing us from solving the wildfire disaster problem? This was the question posed to a pre-pandemic gathering on advancing WUI resilience sponsored by NFPA and the Fire Protection Research Foundation. An extensive report on the results of that workshop was issued this spring, identifying specific needs for research that can validate best practices and solutions.

The workshop and report helped inform NFPA’s policy initiative, Outthink Wildfire™ by demonstrating consensus around the key areas where all levels of government, the private sector, and the public must work to secure a safer future. We have enough knowledge to move forward but will need to embrace research that continues to provide the best available information to end the wildfire disaster problem in our lifetimes. My latest Wildfire column in NFPA Journal highlights a few of the areas where research can support the tenets of the bold policies NFPA is pursuing.