WUI Initiatives

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Initiatives  

Most Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) resources concentrate on firefighting and response rather than on community design, preparedness, prevention, and risk mitigation efforts. This is where engineers—with their focus on understanding the science behind designing safer, more sustainable, and more resilient communities for all—can make a difference.
The SFPE Foundation is leading multiple lines of effort by fire engineers, fire service members, and researchers in the Wildland-Urban Interface:
  1. The WUI Working Group, including the development of The Contribution of Fire Engineering in Addressing the WUI Fire Problem [White Paper] published in July 2025 and the 2023 Virtual WUI Summits.
  2. Supporting WUI related fire engineering research and resources, both by funding WUI related fire engineering research and highlighting the WUI fire engineering research work of others in a curated library: WUI Fire Engineering Library of Research and Resources
  3. Developing Fire Engineering curriculum (both Basic and Advanced) for the Fire Service on behalf of the U.S. Fire Administration through Department of Homeland Security grants.
  4. Developing a virtual WUI Handbook for Risk Assessment & Mitigation for both Parcel and Community-Level use on behalf of the U.S. Fire Administration, through Department of Homeland Security grants. The initial handbook was published in 2023, with the Second Edition published in August 2025. 
  5. Host a WUI Fire Engineering Summit in August 2026 at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

   

SFPE Foundation's Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Prevention & Safety Grants  

Virtual WUI Handbook  


With federal funding support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fire Prevention & Safety Grant Program (FY 2020) , the aim of this project was to develop a virtual handbook of engineering-based resource materials to support fire department WUI property fire risk assessments and recommended mitigation strategies for use in the field.

Following the December 2021 kick-off workshop, the Handbook was developed, piloted and evaluated in cooperation with select fire departments in the US. A project team from Jensen Hughes, led by Darlene Rini, P.E., was selected for this project. The project was supported by an Advisory Panel composed of fire engineers, fire service personnel, and members of SFPE’s Fire Service Subcommittee. The handbook was released in 2023.

The WUI Virtual Handbook for Property Fire Risk Assessment & Mitigation

This project contributes to the Foundation’s research portfolio in the SFPE Research Roadmap threads of Building Fires, Fire Service, Fire Safety Systems, and Wildland/WUI Fires,

View our 2023 Press Release announcing the project.


The SFPE Foundation executed a Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Prevention & Safety Grant (FY2022) to create an expanded WUI Virtual Handbook with updated and new content, a template for risk assessment based on best practices, and a robust suite of supporting materials to help fire service personnel communicate with property owners and community leaders about fire risks and parcel-level and community-level mitigation strategies to reduce wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire losses.

As WUI communities grow, and WUI fires proliferate, more fire departments with very little experience in WUI fires and/or a shortage of personnel and resources will be called on to protect their communities. Adopting strategies now to prioritize mitigation that slows or prevents fire spread is critical. At the same time, research increasingly shows that mitigation strategies focused on parcel-level structural hardening alone are insufficient; we need to factor in community-level exposure possibilities and local context and get individual and community buy-in to make important changes. The fire engineering community can help meet these needs by providing fire departments with more persuasive materials–grounded in science-based engineering methods–to convince property owners, developers, and community leaders to make the changes needed to better protect against WUI fire threats. When paired with communications tools targeting property owners, developers, businesses, and community leaders, this guidance can be an essential resource for fire departments to demonstrate the value of investment in WUI fire safety.

To that end, this project expanded and revise the existing SFPE Foundation WUI Virtual Handbook to make it a more flexible tool that can be utilized for a wider range of needs, including (1) training property inspectors, (2) conducting WUI property assessments, (3) engaging with homeowners regarding WUI risks and mitigation activities, and (4) engaging community leaders in understanding WUI fire risks and potential mitigation activities. It will be designed to meet the needs of more- and less-experienced departments and to empower fire service personnel to reduce community risk while raising awareness of complementary tools, resources, and training available through organizations operating in this space.

Three project teams were selected for this project. Darlene Rini, PE, led the Engineering Technical Consultant team from Jensen Hughes. Hubert Biteau, PhD, PE, CFEI, led the Engineering Risk Consultant Team from Code Red Consultants, LLC. And, third, Daniel Price, PE, and Bill M. West led the Web Design & Creative Consultant Team from Engineered Fire Systems, Inc. and Bareknuckle Branding, respectively.

The Second Edition of the Wildland-Urban Interface Virtual Handbook for Fire Risk Assessment & Mitigation was released on August 19, 2025. It is available at: https://www.sfpe.org/wuihandbook/home.

View our 2025 Press Release announcing the release.

Watch the August 19, 2025 joint SFPE Fire Service Subcommittee and SFPE Foundation webinar announcing and explaining the WUI Virtual Handbook Bringing in the Community - Announcing the WUI Virtual Handbook, 2nd Edition. Webinars can be accessed with a free SFPE account.

This project contributes to the Foundation’s research portfolio in the SFPE Research Roadmap threads of Building Fires, Fire Service, Fire Safety Systems, and Wildland/WUI Fires.

WUI Engineering Curriculum


The SFPE Foundation received a Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Prevention & Safety Grant (FY2021) to develop an engineering science-based educational curriculum for fire service personnel that helps address unmet training needs with respect to Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire risk assessment and mitigation. Fire protection engineers can offer educational tools and resources to help support fire departments in the field. These tools can be applied across the spectrum of WUI fire hazards – in areas like individual asset protection, community evacuation and notification, and community-level wildfire protection and mitigation. This project will assess fire department training needs in WUI fire property risk assessment and mitigation strategies that can be addressed with engineering-based resources and guidance, document best practices, develop an engineering-based curriculum for firefighters conducting WUI property risk assessment and developing mitigation strategies, and illustrate how the curriculum can reduce risk by addressing unmet training needs for a wide range of departments.

The project developed a classroom-based training curriculum (including courses, course content, delivery methodology, and learning assessment) that introduces fire service personnel to engineering-based guidance and tools that can provide more nuanced guidance to fire departments conducting WUI property fire risk assessment and mitigation activities, especially in areas where existing codes, regulations, or tools are not locally contextualized. The curriculum covers the engineering science behind the risks associated with different asset and community configurations, structural components, configurations, and other features of the built environment in the WUI so that fire departments can adapt their approaches to better meet local needs. The curriculum addresses unmet training needs for a wide range of departments – regardless of their size or prior experience with WUI fires – and empowers them to adapt available resources to their own needs and thereby reduce risk in their communities. A project team from the Mid-Atlantic Center for Emergency Management & Public Safety at Frederick Community College and FireTox LLC was selected for this project.

This project contributes to the Foundation’s research portfolio in the SFPE Research Roadmap threads of Building Fires, Fire Service, Fire Safety Systems, and Wildland/WUI Fires.

The curriculum is available as a one-day or two-day course through the National Fire Academy Wildland-Urban Interface Risk Assessment & Mitigation for the Fire Service F0663.


The SFPE Foundation currently holds a Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Prevention & Safety Grant (FY2023) to develop an engineering science-based educational curriculum for U.S. Fire Service personnel that helps address unmet advanced training needs with respect to Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire risk assessment and mitigation. This curriculum builds upon that developed under a previous grant.

With WUI fires on the rise, more fire departments are called to engage in WUI fire prevention and protection strategies, but most have significant unmet training needs in this area. While training on the basic principles of individual asset protection – such as structural hardening, defensible space, and vegetation management – has increased among fire service personnel in the last few years, access to training on advanced topics remains lacking. Fire protection engineers can offer educational tools and resources regarding advanced topics like WUI fire dynamics, WUI fire modeling, and human behavior in WUI fires (e.g., notification and evacuation strategies). This project will assess advanced training needs that can be addressed with engineering-based resources and guidance, document best practices, develop three modular courses on these topics, and illustrate how these courses can reduce risk by addressing unmet training needs for departments across the U.S.

The Curriculum Consultant team that the Foundation selected includes Jamie L. McAllister, Ph.D., P.E. (Halliwell Fire Research, USA), Daniel Nilsson, Ph.D. (University of Canterbury, NZ), and Andres Valencia, Ph.D. (University of Canterbury, New Zealand). An Engineering Risk Consultant team will be contracted at a later date.

It is anticipated that the curriculum will be released in August 2026.

View our 2025 Press Release announcing the project and opportunities to provide feedback on the curriculum.

This project contributes to the Foundation’s research portfolio in the SFPE Research Roadmap threads of Building Fires, Fire Service, Fire Safety Systems, and Wildland/WUI Fires.