U.S. researchers devise scale to gauge wildfire risk, lessen
losses SALMON, Idaho | SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - U.S.
researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind numerical scale
to measure wildfire risks to property and communities in the
wake of a fire season ranked the third most extensive since
1960, government officials said on Thursday. The index, devised
as an ascending scale from 1 to 4, will rate the vulnerability
of homes or other structures to wildfires according to such
factors as climate, surrounding terrain, and the types of
vegetation that could fuel a fire, as well as building design
and materials. The scale was designed to help fire managers
better allocate firefighting resources according to potential
property losses, rather than based on only the size and scope of
a fire, and for greater advanced planning to mitigate wildfire
hazards. Each ranking will actually be assigned as two separate
numbers - one gauging a structure's vulnerability to direct fire
exposure and one measuring the potentia