Forest Fire Detection in the Wildland-Urban Interface James Barnier Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry FERIC Wildfire Detection Workshop March 25 – 27, 2003

Several Detection Options: Public reporting Fixed lookouts Ground patrols Air patrols Lightning detectors Satellite imagery

911 Availability

Choice of a Detection Method: Risk Hazard Value

Research Objective: Evaluate the performance and cost- effectiveness of public and organized wildfire detection methods in the wildland-urban interface

The Study Area:

Forest covertypes

Socio-economic importance 90 thousand direct jobs $3.3 billion in wages $5.4 billion in value added 2+ million hectares of parks and conservation areas Over 8 million visitors annually

Settlement patterns 1.5 million residents 16 persons per square kilometre $45.8 billion in property values

Wisconsin’s detection system 95 fixed lookouts Public reporting Air patrols Ground patrols

Wildfire causes

Suppression techniques Ground attack Type VII-X engines and/or Type IV engines with Type IV tractor plows

Analytical Methods: Cost-benefit analyses Tukey’s multiple comparison tests of performance measures

Costs & benefits of lookout detection

A benefit function Lookout benefits assessed relative to public detection

Data: Two separate but linked datasets 4,690 individual fire reports ( ) 711 addendum reports from ( )

A suppression cost model Model estimated for three covertype/ fuel model combinations Data included only those observations when lookouts were staffed

Results – Economic Effectiveness Statewide Protected 238 ha from wildfire damage Reduced suppression costs by $12 k Prevented $591 k in property damage Each $1 cost => $6 savings

A closer look

Protected 1.6 ha from wildfire Saved $86 in suppression costs Prevented $4,100 in property damage Per fire

Administrative region Area saved and suppression costs saved were not statistically different Property damage prevented and number of wildfires detected differed significantly

A closer look

Individual lookouts Lookout performance was highly variable Lookouts that detected more fires saved area and generated more benefits

A closer look

Results – Detection Performance: Wildfire sightings

Detection lag A A

Final size A B ABAB

Suppression cost A B ABAB

Conclusions: Fixed lookouts were cost-effective Majority of benefits attributable to property damage prevention Performance highly variable

Conclusions (Continued): Small number of lookouts generated majority of benefits Public and lookouts see different wildfires Opportunities exist to enhance wildfire detection