On April 21, Peaks Islanders gathered at their community center to hear rangers from the Maine Forest Service give a presentation about the threat of wildfire to their homes. The rangers shared the results of a risk assessment they had previously conducted, and also suggested several strategies for homeowners to reduce the risk of a wildfire on the island.
Inadequate “defensible space” around homes was the greatest hazard the rangers found. Such space can prevent flames and radiant heat from igniting a home; it also provides room for firefighters to fight the fire. Several steps homeowners can take to increase the defensible space around their homes were suggested, including maintaining green lawns 30 feet around homes; thinning trees, especially conifers, and removing downed and dying woody debris, leaves, needles, etc. from around homes; and moving woodpiles out of the defensible space and away from any structures.
The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is defined by the Maine Forest Service as the area where homes meet or intermingle with wildland vegetation. Homes located in the wildland urban interface are at high risk in case of wildfire: they can ignite directly from the surrounding flames, or indirectly from radiant heat or firebrands from an approaching wildfire being lofted into the air.
The assessment program through which the forest rangers came to Peaks is part of a larger effort to reduce risk through preventative actions, called the Communities at Risk, Wildland-Urban Interface Program.
For communities that participate in the program, the Maine Forest Service completes community assessments to identify risks in WUI areas and offers strategies for reducing them with the goal of minimizing the ability if a wildfire to move around and threaten homes. In collaboration with the Island Institute, island fellows will be assisting the Forest Service to complete WUI assessments for Maine’s year-round island communities in the coming months.
A typical WUI assessment includes both structures and vegetation sites within the wildland urban interface area. The structural assessments consider topography, road access and signage, defensible space and vegetation, building materials and availability of water, while the vegetative assessments consider vegetation type, fuel density, fuel bed depth and canopy cover.
In 1957 a wildfire burned 300 acres on Peaks Island. Today, the island averages one or two grass fires per year, usually under an acre. The forest rangers and attendees all noted that the high winds just a few days before the presentation had downed several hundred trees on Peaks, increasing the risk of wildfire and making the suggested strategies for reducing risk all the more critical.
The full risk assessment report for Peaks Island is available at the Peaks Island Land Preserve website, www.preservepeaks.org. q
Sarah Curran is an Island Institute Fellow on Peaks Island.