Nearly 400 fire service personnel from 40 states, Canada and Australia attended Wildfire 2002: Surviving in the Interface Danger Zone, held Dec. 4-6 in Kansas City, Mo. The first annual wildfire conference, sponsored by the International Association of Wildland Fire, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Rocky Mountain Research Station, was the first-of-its-kind national conference and exhibition that covered wildland-urban interface fire prevention, mitigation and management.

The conference was divided into three tracks: safety in the interface; wildland-urban interface suppression, management, tactics and tools; and prevention, mitigation, environmental concerns and fuels management. Attendees learned about all aspects of wildfire, including communication, safety zones, fuels management and success stories.

The conference featured three general sessions. Jack Cohen, principal researcher at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, presented findings on the structure fire ignition model. Tim Hartzell, wildland fire coordinator for the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Jim Hubbard, director of the Colorado State Forest Service, discussed issues in the National Fire Policy. John Maclean, acclaimed author of the best-selling book Fire on the Mountain and the new book Fire and Ashes: Reports from the Front Lines of American Wildfire, educated attendees on the history of wildland fire.

In addition, more than 40 exhibitors demonstrated the latest in technologies and services for wildland and urban interface agencies.

Attendees included fire department chiefs and company officers; wildland firefighters, managers and researchers; land-use planners; federal and state wildland fire agency members; and fire department training and safety officers. The next conference will be in Reno, Nev., March 3-5, 2004.