Registration for the National Fire Protection Association‘s (NFPA) 5thBackyards & Beyond® Wildland Fire Education Conference is now available online. The conference will be held November 14 – 16 in Salt Lake City, Utah where experts and stakeholders will gather to discuss wildfire safety issues and best practices for reducing risks. With more than 50 breakout sessions in five educational tracks, the Backyards and Beyond conference offers leading wildland fire experts, community planners, civic leaders, homeowners and residents, insurance professionals, landscape architects, and physical and social researchers and scientists an opportunity to build relationships and explore answers to important wildland fire safety questions that can be taken back to communities and the workplace.
A pre-conference workshop, Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone, will be held on November 12-13 with instructors Jack Cohen, a research physical scientist with the USDA Forest Service; and Pat Durland, president and wildland fire consultant of Stone Creek Fire, a company that specializes in wildfire mitigation services. The two-day workshop provides important information about fire behavior and structure ignition from wildfires, and helps identify measures residents can take to reduce wildfire risks to their homes.
More information about the conference, workshop, accommodations and transportation can be found on the Firewise website. Registration for both the two-day workshop and the conference is available online, through the mail or by phone. Visit NFPA’s registration page for details. A discounted conference rate is available for those who register before October 11, 2013.
NFPA continues to accept proposals for educational presentations for the conference. The deadline for online submissions has been extended to February 15, 2013. More information can be found on the submission page on the Firewise website.
NFPA’s Wildland Fire Operations Division provides information and resources through the Firewise® Communities Program and Fire Adapted Communities® initiative (both co-sponsored by the USDA Forest Service), education, training, conferences, workshops and courses to community residents to help them reduce their risk of wildfire damage to homes and property.