The National Fire Protection Association recently released findings of a report on local fire department responses to brush, grass and forest fires from 2004 through 2008. Local fire departments in the U.S. responded to an average of almost 1,000 such fires every day during that five-year period. These incidents accounted for 23% of all fires reported to local fire departments. NFPA has called for increased participation in community-wide wildfire education and planning efforts, such as its Firewise Communities program, to help property owners reduce their risk for wildfire damage.

The report found human activity was the main cause of such fires.

While three-quarters (74%) of these fires burned less than an acre, local fire departments had to contend with an annual average of 4,800 buildings involved in brush, grass or forest fires during the five years covered by the study. More than 30,000 fires occurred per year at one or two-family homes. One of every five brush, grass or forest fires handled by local fire departments was intentionally set.

Statistics by Region:

• Fifty-four percent of brush, grass, or forest fires handled by local fire departments occur in the South. The region has the highest rate for these fires per 1,000 square miles and the highest rate for grass and forest fires specifically.
• The Northeast had the second highest rate per 1,000 square miles for total brush, grass, and forest fires and forest wood or wildland fires specifically. It ranked third in the rate for grass fires.
• Local fire departments in the West ranked third in the percentage of U.S. brush, grass, and forest fires handled, but they had the lowest rate of fires per 1,000 square miles for all the fire categories studied. Although most of the largest wildland fires were in the West, many of these were on lands owned by federal or state government and were not protected by local fire departments as first responders.
• One of every five brush, grass, or forest fire responses handled by local fire departments occurred in the Midwest.

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