Fires in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): An Emerging Global Phenomenon Threatening Modern Society

Wildfires are increasing in frequency and magnitude in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas. These mainly occur in characteristically Mediterranean ecosystems with wet winters and long, hot, dry summers, and/or in those characterized by a dry winter season. The number of people establishing their homes in these WUI areas around the world has grown at faster rates than in other types of human settlement. Land use changes on these wilderness areas (abandonment of dwellings around former grazing areas and their transformation into second homes or leisure areas in southern Europe, or lack of vegetation management and increasing urban development of WUIs in some regions of the Americas or in Australia), has led to unprecedented biomass accumulation. As a consequence, the probability of fire ignitions and megafires have dramatically increased in these WUIs during the last 20 years, resulting in great losses for people and infrastructure. In addition to these losses, WUI fires are also accompanied by health hazards and psychological impacts.

In this Research Topic, we will examine WUI fires from around the world from different disciplinary perspectives, from natural to social sciences. We will specifically explore the interaction of increasing WUI fire risk with fire exclusion policies, housing development codes and people’s behavior. During the last century, the global community and its fire governance systems have developed contradictory policies with regard to the use and management of vegetation fires. These policies have included excessive use in some ecosystems, as a way to facilitate land use conversion of forests to agricultural fields. Yet in others, there has been a total suppression of vegetation fires as a way, for instance, of preserving ecosystems and preventing damage to human life and property. These policies have exacerbated fires in WUI where many of these contradictions have fully manifested themselves.

The scope of this Research Topic will be broad, intending to cover all natural and social aspects of WUI fires around the world. These include, but are not limited to: the ecological effects of these WUI fires; the challenges present as urban development increases in WUI areas; people’s attitudes toward fire risk present in WUI areas; the effects of fires from the community health perspective (effects of smoke emission, psychological impacts); the need for changes in construction codes and fire prevention policies to build fire safe WUI communities; including ways of monitoring vulnerable WUIs around cities to prevent construction in these areas and fomenting it in more defensible WUIs.

Keywords: Wildland fires, Biomass Buildup, Natural Disturbances, Land Use Planning, Governance, Urban Codes

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