FIRE-WUI: RECAP: A Novel Framework for Smoke-Aware Prescribed Fire Planning in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Wildfires in the United States are becoming increasingly destructive, threatening public health, infrastructures, and human lives, especially in areas where communities border wildlands, known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Although prescribed fires (controlled burns) are among the most effective tools for reducing wildfire risk, they remain underused in the WUI due to liability concerns, smoke-related opposition, and logistical barriers. This project addresses a critical challenge: how to design prescribed fire strategies that are both effective and socially acceptable in vulnerable communities. The research team will work directly with local residents, fire managers, and practitioners to develop community-centered planning approaches that reflect real-world needs and constraints. The broader impacts of this project include advancing science-based tools for wildfire mitigation, supporting public dialogue on the trade-offs of prescribed fire, and enhancing STEM education and workforce development in Iowa, an EPSCoR designated state. The project includes four integrated components: (1) a large-scale public perception survey to understand how WUI communities in the Western and Southeastern U.S. perceive prescribed fires and smoke; (2) a statistical wildfire risk model that accounts for uncertainty in fire intensity and spread; (3) a fast-computing, physics-informed smoke propagation model that quantifies uncertainty under varying environmental conditions; and (4) a flexible and probabilistic optimization model that identifies cost-effective and community-informed prescribed fire strategies. By combining these elements, the project will equip fire managers with robust tools to plan more beneficial and publicly supported prescribed burns. This interdisciplinary work brings together expertise in risk communication, statistical modeling, and operations research to address a pressing environmental challenge. This project is jointly funded by the GEO/RISE Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.