A wildland-urban interface area is, “that geographical area where structures and other human development meets or intermingles with wildland or vegetative fuels.” Approximately a third of all housing units in the United States are located within an area that meets this definition. As incidents of wildfires destroying buildings and entire towns increase, jurisdictions are increasingly adopting the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, there is good reason for IWUIC adoption. In 2018, NFPA reported that more than 58,000 wildfires burned over 9 million acres in the United States. Twenty-five thousand structures were damaged, including more than 18,000 residences. If development trends of the past thirty years persist, these numbers will only increase as urban areas encroach further into wildlands. Climate change is expected to escalate incidents of drought across much of the United States. Drier trees and vegetation will exacerbate the threat of wildfires everywhere.