Rice, Carol L.;Davis, James B. 1991. Land-use planning may reduce fire damage in the urbanwildlandintermix. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-127. Berkeley,CA: PacificSouthwestResearchStation, Forest Service, U.S.Department of Agriculture; 13 p. The risk of wildfire associated with development in the urban-wildland intermix is nationwide. To wildland fire agencies, providing fire protection for wildland residential development can be an exercise in frustration. Much of the problem is that few convincing ties

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... have been made between community planning and wildfire. For three counties in California, the following were investigated in each: fire damage due to a recent wildfire, general plans, local planning regulations, and the real estate development process. General observations support theidea that good fire-safe planning protects homes threatened by fire, and that loss occurs in the absence of good planning. The damage observed in all three counties appears to be related to one of four problems: inadequate consideration of protection factors; disadvantages of small fire departments in dealing with real estate developers and otherunits of local government; variety in residential developments and in their susceptibility to control through planning: and conflicting interests among homeowners, developers, and local governments. The existing tools available for fire managers and planners to use in providing protection from wildland fires are environmental review, codes and regulations, the judicial process, and new legislation. Specificactions tominimizefiredamagein theurban-wildlandintermixarerecommended: (1) convince community planners to accept fire protection factors; (2) increase the role of fire protection entities in community planning; (3) strengthen siting and building regulations; (4) educate and change attitudes of planners and the public; and (5) work toward an equitable sharing of costs and protection responsibility by developers, local governments, and fire prot&tion agencies and departments. Retrieval Terms: wildland-urban intermix, fire prevention, land-use planning, land development, California