Keynote Presentation
Building High Energy Relationships for Successful Project Outcomes (PDF, 5 MB)
George Baker, CPC, ELI-MP, Fire Chief (retired)
The success of a project can be predicted by the core energy of the team, the team leader, and the stakeholders. During this high energy presentation, Chief Baker will educate and entertain as he reviews the ups and downs to the success of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge Habitat Management and Fuels Reduction program based on Bruce Schneider¹s Core Energy model of seven levels of energy and four energy blocks. Attendees will leave with an understanding that “how they show up” can power a group to success.
Featured Presentations
The Highway 31 Fire: Wildfire Close to Home
Darryl Jones, Forest Protection Chief, South Carolina Forestry Commission
In April, 2009, the most destructive wildfire in South Carolina history burned almost 20,000 acres adjacent to Myrtle Beach, SC. This fire exhibited extreme fire behavior, long-range spotting, and resulted in two entrapments. The initial fire destroyed 76 homes and significantly damaged 97 additional homes. Major highways into the Myrtle Beach area were closed, schools were shut down, and tourism was interrupted during the peak of travel season. Darryl will re-account the efforts to control the fire, manage the evacuation, and illustrate the difficulties found in this peat fuel type.
Homeowners and Fire on the Forest Edge (PDF, 2 MB)
Lincoln Bramwell, PhD, Legislative Affairs Specialist, USDA Forest Service
At no point have homeowners in the West exposed themselves more to an environmental force beyond their control than when they built homes in wildfire-prone areas. Residential developments nestled along the forest edge created a tremendous problem for wildfire managers. Unable to change the economic and political forces that propelled suburban sprawl into the wildfire vulnerable areas, fire managers instead responded by asking for increased budgets and human resources to fight fires more aggressively, creating a false sense of security and outsized expectations from homeowners. The public now expects fire fighters to successfully protect their homes from uncontrollable wildfires. Fire fighting success, combined with people moving into the woods, helped break the normal fire cycle in the West, as fire dependent ecosystems missed several fire cycles and fuels accumulated. Adding to these human impacts, climate change reduced precipitation as temperatures rose, which dried out the accumulated fuels making them more vulnerable to wildfire starts. Until homeowners and the fire community accept the fact that protecting rural subdivisions from the inevitable fires is impossible, their efforts will remain unfeasible.
The USAA Firewise® Community Recognition Discount: Behavior, Incentives and Community Resilience (PDF, 3 MB)
Jeff Cavanaugh, USAA
This presentation highlights the joint research between Firewise and USAA, which discovered favorable loss performance trends for Firewise residents at community and state levels, and led to the introduction of the USAA Firewise Community Recognition Discount. This property insurance premium discount supports the goal of rewarding and incentivizing preparation and loss prevention efforts at parcel and community levels.
Application of Firewise® Data in the Private Sector (PDF, 7 MB)
Chris Roussel, Chief Executive Officer, Myriad Development, Inc.
Myriad Development supports over 20 million risk mitigation and management decisions annually within the underwriting and real estate industries. Learn how the company built Firewise data into its California Natural Hazard Disclosure Report product, and how it has made Firewise community information accessible on its industry standard underwriting platform to permit quicker and broader use of the information across the property and casualty insurance market.