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The national database of state and local wildfire hazard mitigation programs
serves as a clearinghouse of information about nonfederal policies and
programs that seek to reduce the risk of loss of life and property through
the reduction of hazardous fuels on private lands. If
you would like to submit a program to the national wildfire programs database,
please complete the following form (MS
Word).
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Title: |
Mississippi�s WUI Wildfire Mitigation Program
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Type: |
Property Insurance
Homeowner assistance
Fuelbreaks
Firewise community recognition programs
Education
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Jurisdiction: |
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State: |
Mississippi
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Program Description: |
Firewise Communities
The Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC) is currently funded under a National Fire Plan grant to establish three Firewise communities. Efforts to establish the first community are underway in the Silver Run Estates community located in Stone County.
State fire officials have conducted a Firewise Program briefing with a representative from Silver Run Estates. Other community meetings are planned and a sampling of properties will be used to complete a community mitigation plan. To support the mitigation plan, the development of a GIS is also anticipated. The State�s first homeowner�s assistance project for fuels treatment and disposal will follow the planning and assessment efforts. The State has also conducted prescribed burns on approximately 200 acres in the area of Silver Run Estates.
Homeowner Assistance
The implementation of broad scale homeowner wildfire hazard assessments is under consideration by the State. The cost and extent of assessments needed are issues being discussed by officials, as well as the availability of grant funds that would be required to conduct the assessments.
Public Outreach
The MFC currently utilizes two Misssissippi-specific Firewise travel trailers and a tabletop display at public events and are planning to purchase two or three additional displays.
The Florida company, Interactive Training Media, has developed an educational program specific for Mississippi. Five, highly successful, Mississippi Wildfire Prevention Teacher's Workshops were held last year and more are anticipated for 2005.
The MFC is developing a Mississippi Firewise Tabloid and hopes to have it inserted in major newspapers in the hot areas of the state in October in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week.
As a part of the MFC prescribed burning program, members of the state�s wildfire prevention team have engaged landowners, the media, and local government officials to explain the purpose behind fuel reduction burning. This educational effort has helped the MFC accomplish more burning in areas where smoke could have been an issue. Once residents had seen the benefits of reduced wildland fuels around their homes they were more tolerant of the smoke impacts.
Training for Fire Professionals and Elected Officials
Twelve Firewise community education programs are planned and will begin in May 2005. The National Park Service is a partner in this effort. National Firewise materials will be used extensively, as well as a pamphlet and Firewise tabletop display that are specific to Mississippi.
The State plans to train two VFD members per VFD region (there are 10 regions in Mississippi) as Firewise facilitators. Local elected officials will also be invited to each of the 12 Firewise Community Workshops. The State plans to hold Firewise Community Workshops as long as supporting grant money is available.
A Firewise Forestry Field Day in Winston County is being planned for fire and forestry professionals. The morning session will cover the national Firewise program (movies/speeches). The afternoon session will be a field lab assessing structures using the NFPA 1144 form. Attendees will be able to earn 4 hours credit towards the Society of American Foresters Continuing Education Program.
Property Insurance
The MFC distributed 375 letters to insurance companies in Mississippi that write property loss policies. Two companies responded and have received Firewise briefings. In the briefings, the home inspection programs that Allstate, State Farm, and Farmer's Group insurance companies are conducting in the west are discussed. A Firewise briefing with the head of the State Rating Bureau is also planned.
Fuel Reduction Projects
Fuel reduction projects have been the backbone of the Hazard Mitigation program in Mississippi since the inception of the National Fire Plan. The MFC has primarily utilized prescribed fire to accomplish its fuel reduction objectives.
During the period from June 2003 until February 2005 the MFC burned 4,164 acres in the wildland urban interface. These prescribed burns were conducted in areas with 11,642 homes. Burns were conducted around the municipalities of Bay St. Louis, Carthage, Sumrall, Walnut Grove, and Wiggins, the communities of Call Town, Lizana, Necaise, Red Water, and Saucier. Several other un-named population clusters were also protected. These prescribed fire treatments were funded with 2003 National Fire Plan monies. The State has also completed 12,674 acres of prescribed burning adjacent to USFS lands under the Stephens amendment to the National Fire Plan since April of 2004.
A project to burn 25,000 acres using aerial ignitions is underway with 1,100 acres treated as of May 2005. With NFP grant funding, the MFC purchased needed equipment and contracted helicopter services to conduct the burns.
The MFC is undertaking a project in the summer of 2005 to chemically treat the exotic weed species, Cogon Grass, to slow its spread. The weed is trying to establish itself as the predominant ground cover in the coastal areas of Mississippi, which is where the greatest concentration of the WUI is located. The species burns very intensely and fires burning in Cogon grass areas are usually hard to control.
Contact Information
For more information, contact Leslie Blackwell at
[email protected], or Jon Wallace at [email protected].
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