Addressing the Nation’s Wildfire Problem: An S&T Roadmap

As climate conditions are becoming hotter and drier, wildfires have grown more intense and destructive across much of the U.S. The public safety challenges from wildfires are most acute in the area known as the wildland-urban interface where lives and infrastructure are at most risk. Addressing the nation’s wildfire problem will invariably involve bridging these two cultures of fire safety and risk that have traditionally been separate and developing a mix of social and technological innovations and ecosystem services to enable better wildfire mitigation, fire safety, and firefighting practices.