WUI Fire Evacuation and Sheltering Considerations — Assessment Planning and Execution
WHY ARE WUI FIRES SO DANGEROUS?
Wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires present unique and urgent challenges. These fast-moving events can ignite close to homes, overwhelm traditional evacuation routes, and leave little to no time for warnings — making advanced planning and awareness essential for protecting lives.
In this module you will learn
There are fire scenarios (ignition and spread) that will not allow sufficient time for residents to safely evacuate ahead of the fire. WUI evacuations are extremely complex events;outcomes depend on community planning, fire ignition and spread, local weather, first responder activities, and evacuee decisions. Wildland and WUI fires can result in severe
exposures to first responders and evacuating
civilians. These high exposure events can result in
injuries and fatalities. A prepared intermix community will be able to
evacuate residents ahead of the fire in certain fire
ignition and spread scenarios. Under certain fire ignition and spread scenarios,
life safety risks cannot be eliminated. Customized
solutions leveraging existing community assets
can be used to manage these risks. Fire spreads directly via radiation and convection and can jump ahead long distances by hot embers. Fires can spot ahead several miles and spread faster than people can walk.
Specific Module Sections
Community Evacuations 
How WUI Fires Spread 
Fire Temporal Relationships
WUI Life Safety 
Evacuation Modeling Issues 
