A fire safety engineering approach to improving community resilience to the impacts of wildfire

Abstract

Each year severe wildfires continue to cause significant destruction resulting in the loss of life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment. In an effort to increase community preparedness and resilience to wildfire, international jurisdictions have adopted both guiding principles and prescriptive codes that apply to both urban planning and fire engineering design of buildings within the wildland–urban interface. These measures are intended to protect occupants, enhance the survivability of structures from different fire exposure mechanisms, and increase the chances of successful firefighting operations. However, research has identified (i) inconsistent approaches to regulation and governance; (ii) limited research on which urban design and building standards are based; and (iii) misaligned or contradictory urban design and building standards. This not only stifles the use of development proposing suitable performance‐based design that could achieve the required outcomes but can increase administrative burdens and development costs without increasing safety. The aim of this current study is to contribute to addressing identified shortfalls by identifying and distilling the last 23 years of research in the field related to (i) the development of evidence‐based performance requirements, and (ii) the application of effective governance arrangements in order to enhance urban design and wildfire engineering practices. These aims are achieved through a systematic literature review. Ultimately, however, of the 608 initial articles captured in the identification phase of the SLR, not a single article provided insight into the most effective regulatory or governance mechanism, and only three provided criteria suitable for adoption as a performance requirement. While the aims of this study were only partially achieved, it does provide a foundation for the field by way of identifying and distilling the current state of practice.