马歇尔大火

12月30日, 2021, 马歇尔火灾, a wind-driven wildfire swept through the City of Louisville, the Town of Superior and unincorporated areas of Boulder County, 科罗拉多州, 燃烧6,219英亩, 摧毁近1,100 homes and businesses, and claiming the lives of two people. The Marshall fire is considered to be the most destructive in 科罗拉多州’s history with over $2 billion in losses.

Two of our expert teams were deployed to the incident to conduct (1) a detailed post-fire forensics investigation to determine the origin and cause of the incident, and (2) a wildfire risk assessment to evaluate building performance during the fire, in addition to identify the breath and range of physical, 环境, social and regulatory vulnerabilities that contributed to the devastating losses experienced in the impacted communities.

皇家88娱乐的法医专家, retained by the Boulder County Sheriff and District Attorney’s offices, performed witness interviews, on-site observations of the fire scene and fire patterns, researched location and types of ignition sources in the area as well as applicable weather data; and reviewed photography and video of witnesses and/or automated camera 系统. The investigation gathered and considered all evidence and data, considering veracity and assembled an incident timeline. We then developed a list of possible cause hypotheses of the fire and offered opinions regarding the origin and cause of the fire, and the role played by the electric utility.

For the wildfire 缓解 assessment, our team of experts collected hundreds of on-the-ground observations and evaluations of damaged and undamaged homes and commercial structures, along with inspections of individual building components, 系统, 和材料. The team also conducted numerous interviews with state and local first responders, 建立官员, 计划部门, 居民, 以及其他机构, as well as evaluated numerous technical reports developed from by other partners such as NIST and IBHS.

Our research uncovered the hazardous combination of high winds known as a “Mountain Wave” with wind speeds of 50 to 60 mph with gusts up to 80 to 115 mph significantly damaging vulnerable power sources near ignitable and mixed natural vegetation. 除了, 长期的干旱, high temperatures and local resident activity unexpectedly created coincidental ignition sites in tandem.

While utility-specific wildfire safety regulations, guidance and practices have been adopted in the State of California, where several utility-related wildfires have caused catastrophic losses, the development and adoption of similar standards and practices has not yet occurred more broadly at a national or international level.

类似的, for the built environment, wildfire/WUI safety codes and standards, guidance documents and programs already exist at the national level (e.g., IWUI code, NFPA 1140) and at some state and local levels (e.g., California Building Code Chapter 7A), 然而，收养, customization and enforcement of these codes and standards, policies and practices are limited.

Beyond codes and standards, the incident highlighted the need for more holistic approaches to wildfire resiliency – the need for actions to be taken at community, 社区, 细分, parcel and building scales that encompass the disaster life cycle: preparedness, 规划, 响应, 缓解, 和恢复.

除了, utilizing structure density and fire separation to limit urban conflagration, performing fine-scale hazard, risk and vulnerability assessments and mapping, coordinating 缓解 for multiple hazards, and adding better vegetation management policies and practices for wildland spaces, 公共休憩用地, greenbelts and integrated recreational areas are all areas that show opportunities for improvement for this incident.

The results of this investigation and 缓解 assessment are now used to inform improvements to building/fire codes and standards, 最佳实践, guidance documents and other policies on wildfire preparedness, 预防, 缓解, recovery and rebuilding. Through the Building Science Disaster Support program (BSDS) of the Federal 应急管理 Agency (FEMA), the observations and recommendations from the incident have resulted in the development of several 缓解 assessment team (MAT) products such as:

• Recommendations to improve codes and standards, guidance documents and programs.
• Recommendations for code adoption, customization, and enforcement.
• Detailed fact sheets for homeowners, builders and design professionals addressing structural hardening, 防御空间, multi-hazard considerations, 细分规划, 细节和接缝, smoke and ash infiltration.
• 培训 and outreach presentations and workshops.
• Marshall Fire Technical Report.

Our wildfire risk 缓解 team continues to work with our STARR II partners, FEMA and other federal/state/local governments, 非营利组织, and private sector clients to better understand, 为......准备, respond to and recover from future wildfire threats, particularly at the wildland-urban-interface. This includes providing community wildfire protection plans, utility wildfire 缓解 plans, 社区外展, education and training for enhanced wildfire resiliency 规划 and implementation for planners, 工程师, 设计师, builders and the public at large.