This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA's rich science and research portfolio.
On March 24, Forest Service scientist Jack Cohen served as a technical expert for the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety's Wildfire Demonstration Day in Richburg, South Carolina. This demonstration aimed to highlight home ignition risks and ways to protect property in wildfire prone areas, especially in the wildland-urban interface. Jack's research on the Structure Ignition Assessment Model served as the basis for this demonstration.
The model is a tool that will allow the evaluation of the current ignition potential of homes and the determination of what steps can be taken to reduce the risk of ignition from a wildfire. The Institute hopes to help property owners minimize their potential risks by identifying vulnerable areas on their structures and developing methods to make them more resistant to wildfire.
