16 Fire in the Wildland–Urban Interface

In this chapter we provide an overview of the socio-economic and ecological effects and trends of wildfire in the WUI, methods for assessing wildfire risk in the WUI, approaches to managing the wildfire problem including fuels management, home construction and design, and community action programs. This overview is combined with two case studies analyzing wildfire risk and the use of prescribed fire to reduce that risk in the Florida wildland–urban interface. The federal government’s expenditures for fighting wildfire more than tripled (in inflation-adjusted dollars) between 1996 and 2007, increasing from $984 million in 1996 to $