Public health officials and others can use the resources in the EPA’s Smoke-Ready Toolbox to help educate people about the risks of smoke exposure and actions they can take to protect their health.
Populations at Risk
Populations at Risk– a tool from Headwaters Economics–generates free, customized reports with socioeconomic information about populations more likely to experience adverse social, health, or economic outcomes due to their race, age, gender, poverty status, or other factors. Reports use data from the Census’ American Community Survey (ACS) and are available at multiple scales, from neighborhoods to states.
American Planning Association: Planning the Wildland-Urban Interface
This free guide from the American Planning Association offers planners an in-depth introduction to the WUI and wildfire basics, covering challenges, trends, and historical context along with the latest wildfire science. It then moves to solutions, providing a holistic planning framework and practical guidance on how to address WUI and wildfire challenges in plans, policies, and regulations.
NACo County Wildfire Playbook
The National Association of Counties (NACo) produced this county leadership guide to help communities become more fire adapted and learn to live with wildland fire. The playbook has been designed by county commissioners, for county commissioners, as they endeavor to fortify and protect communities from high severity impacts of wildland fire.
Disaster Safety
Disaster Safety features projects to help home and business owners protect their property from damage caused by wildfire and other natural disasters. This site is a product of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)—a nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported solely by property insurers and reinsurers.
FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) offers several grant opportunities for wildfire in its Hazard Mitigation Assistance program. The Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program awards planning and project grants to states, territories, federally recognized tribes, and local communities to implement a sustained, pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program to raise public awareness about taking action before disaster strikes.
Hispanic Access Foundation Wildfire Toolkit
Latino communities are more vulnerable to experiencing the adverse effects of wildfires. The Hispanic Access Foundation Wildfire Toolkit provides resources about regulations and policies, public and mental health, and response and recovery issues to help communities address Latino considerations related to wildfire.
Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee (CEPC)
The Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee (CEPC) of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group provides national leadership, support, and coordination in all areas of wildland fire education and prevention. Prevention and education teams are available to support any geographic area preceding and during periods of high fire danger or fire activity.
Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System
The Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) is a web-based application designed to make fuels treatment planning and analysis more efficient and effective. IFTDSS provides access to data and models through one simple user interface.
Community Mitigation Assistance Team (CMAT)
Community Mitigation Assistance Teams are a national interagency resource designed to work collaboratively with local partners to build sustainable mitigation programs focused on community fire adaptation actions on the ground. A CMAT works with communities at high risk of wildfire to analyze their mitigation programs and barriers, develop workable solutions to help move mitigation forward, share best mitigation practices for achieving outcomes, and build successful partnerships.