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2021 Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan that interfaces a wildfire hazard severity zone. In addition, the planning partners’ general plans include policies that address managing development in relative fire hazard zones. The planning area is well equipped with these tools, and this planning process has asked each planning partner to assess its capabilities with regards to the tools. As the planning area experiences future growth, it is anticipated that the exposure to this hazard will remain as assessed or even decrease over time due to these capabilities. 16.6 SCENARIO A major wildfire in the planning area might begin with a wet spring, adding to fuels already present on the forest floor. Flashy fuels would build throughout the spring. The summer could see the onset of insect infestation. A dry summer could follow the wet spring, exacerbated by dry hot winds. Carelessness with combustible materials or a tossed lit cigarette, or a sudden lightning storm could trigger a multitude of small isolated fires. The embers from these smaller fires could be carried miles by hot, dry winds. The deposition zone for these embers could be deep in forested areas. Fires that start in flat areas move slower, but wind still pushes them. It is not unusual for a wildfire pushed by wind to burn the ground fuel and later climb into the crown and reverse its track. This is one of many ways that fires can escape containment, typically during periods when response capabilities are overwhelmed. These new small fires would most likely merge. Suppression resources would be redirected from protecting the natural resources to saving more remote subdivisions. The worst-case scenario would include an active fire season throughout the American west, spreading resources thin. Firefighting teams would be exhausted or unavailable. Many federal assets would be responding to other fires that started earlier in the season. To further complicate the problem, heavy rains could follow, causing flooding and landslides and releasing tons of sediment into rivers, permanently changing floodplains and damaging sensitive habitat and riparian areas. Such a fire followed by rain could release millions of cubic yards of sediment into streams for years, creating new floodplains and changing existing ones. With the forests removed from the watershed, stream flows could easily double. Floods that could be expected every 50 years may occur every couple of years. With the streambeds unable to carry the increased discharge because of increased sediment, the floodplains and floodplain elevations would increase. 16.7 ISSUES The major issues for wildfire are the following:  Public education and outreach to people living in or near the fire hazard zones should include information about and assistance with mitigation actions such as defensible space and advance identification of evacuation routes and safe zones.  Wildfires could cause landslides as a secondary natural hazard.  Climate change could affect the wildfire hazard.  Future growth into interface areas should continue to be managed.  Area fire districts need to continue to train on wildland-urban interface events.  Vegetation management activities should include enhancement through expansion of the target areas as well as additional resources. 16-14