Wildfire has become a growing threat for communities across the American West and a complex concern for agencies tasked with community protection. This task has grown more difficult due to the increasing incidence of large fires and the continued expansion of the wildland-urban interface (WUI), the area where human habitations and wildland fuels abut or intermix. These trends have motivated both federal policies and community-level responses to protect communities, lives, and infrastructure. This paper explores community experiences with and perceptions of local wildfire preparedness by summarizing results from two recent surveys.
