Backyards & Beyond Conference Explores Wildfire Safety Issues

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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) will host the 4th Backyards & Beyond Wildland Fire Education Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel, Denver, Colorado, October 27–29. The conference is being organized by NFPA's Wildland Fire Operations Division and Firewise® Communities Program.

With more than 50 breakout sessions in five educational tracks, the Backyards & Beyond conference offers a unique opportunity to build relationships and explore key issues, and brings together leading wildland fire experts, Firewise community representatives, community planners, civic leaders, homeowners and residents, insurance professionals, landscape architects and others to share best practices that can be taken back to communities or the workplace.

A pre-conference workshop, Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone, will be presented Tuesday and Wednesday, October 25 – 26 by Jack Cohen, research physical scientist, USDA Forest Service, and Gary Marshall, deputy fire chief, Bend, Oregon Fire Department.

The two-day workshop provides important information about fire behavior and structure ignition from wildfires, and helps identify measures residents can take to reduce wildfire risks to their homes. The workshop teaches risk assessment methods based on NFPA 1144, Standard for Reducing Structure Ignition Hazards from Wildland Fire. It also covers safety measures for new construction and community design based on NFPA 1141, Standard for Fire Protection Infrastructure for Land Development in Suburban and Rural Areas.

Special presentations during the main conference include:

• An introduction to the new Wildfire Ignition Home Design (WIRHD) program, by Cassy Robinson of the Research & Development Engineering Directorate of the Savannah River National Laboratory
• A demonstration of the new Structure Ignition Assessment Model (SIAM) software by Jack Cohen and Steve Quarles, Ph.D., of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety
• A celebration of the growth of the Firewise Communities/USA® Recognition Program at its 10-year mark, by Jack Cohen and Michele Steinberg, NFPA Firewise Communities program manager. 
  

Registration for both the two-day workshop and the conference is available online, through the mail or by phone. Visit NFPA's registration page for more information.



Author:NFPA Press Release