4.14 Wildland Fires Historical Occurrences

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1 4.4 Wildland Fires A wildland fire (also known as wildfire ) is any non-structure fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland. There are three types of wildland fires: cxiii Ground fires burn organic matter in the soil beneath surface litter and are sustained by glowing combustion. Surface fires spread with a flaming front and burn leaf litter, fallen branches and other fuels located at ground level. Crown fires burn through the top layer of foliage on a tree, known as the canopy or crown fires. Crown fires, the most intense type of fire and often the most difficult to contain, need strong winds, steep slopes and a heavy fuel load to continue burning. In the Kansas City metropolitan area, wildland fires can occur in forests, woodlands, savannas and grasslands. Although wildland fires are primarily a hazard of rural areas, they can occur in urban and suburban settings with a wildland/urban interface. Wildland/urban interface describes any area where potentially dangerous wildland fuels, such as forests, old fields, and grasslands, are found next to homes and other outbuildings. Because of their location, these structures are extremely vulnerable to fire should a wildfire occur in the surrounding area. cxiv Wildland fires are caused by both natural phenomena, such as lightning strikes, and human activity, such as unattended or out-of-control brush or debris pile fires, negligence, or arson. cxv 4.4. Historical Occurrences In the 200 Plan update, no reliable historical data could be found for wildland fires. For this update, a wildfire database maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation was located and used. However, only data from 2002 to the present is available. In total,,548 wildfires were reported in the Kansas City metro that burned a total of 3,63.7 acres. cxvi The vast majority of these fires were extremely small (one acre or less) and caused minor property damage (three residences damaged, one destroyed; 3,02 outbuildings damaged, eight destroyed; two commercial buildings destroyed). Fishing River Fire Protection District (Clay County) reported 29 natural cover/wildfires in 204 that burned several hundred acres, over 60 large bales of hay and two outbuildings. Data limitation. The monetary value of buildings damaged/destroyed is unavailable; only a count of these impacted properties was provided. cxvii Each of the reported fires was attributed to one of cause categories. The numbers of fires attributed to each cause are listed in Table 4.4. below: Table 4.4.: Wildfire Causes in the KC Metro Area ( ) Number of Fires Cause Number of Fires Cause Number of Fires Cause 48 Arson 22 Campfire 27 Railroad 457 Debris 35 Smoking 0 Lightning 9 Children 257 Misc. 43 Not Reported 568 Unknown 6 Equipment Source: MDC Fire Reporting, Online Data Mid-America Regional Council 4.40 June 205

2 Table provides a summary of wildland fires by county, followed by Map 4.4. and Map with GIS-mapped locations of wildfires from 2002 to 205. The numbers of fires and properties damaged/destroyed within individual jurisdictions are discussed in Section County Table 4.4.2: Wildfires in the Kansas City Metro Area by County ( ) Property Damaged/Destroyed Acres Fires Causes Burnt Residences Outbuildings Commercial Cass Arson Debris Children Unknown Campfire Smoking Misc. Equipment Railroad Lightning Not Reported Damaged: 3 Destroyed: 4 Destroyed:: 0 Clay Arson Debris Children Unknown Campfire Smoking Misc. Equipment Railroad Lightning Not Reported Destroyed: 6 Jackson Arson Debris Children Unknown Campfire Smoking Misc. Equipment Railroad Lightning Not Reported Damaged: 2 Damaged: 4 Destroyed: 2 Platte Arson Debris Children Unknown Campfire Smoking Misc. Equipment Railroad Lightning Not Reported Damaged: Destroyed: Mid-America Regional Council June 205

3 Table Wildfires in the Kansas City Metro Area by County ( ) County Fires Causes Acres Burnt Property Damaged/Destroyed Residences Outbuildings Commercial Ray Arson Debris Children Unknown Campfire Smoking Misc. Equipment Railroad Lightning Not Reported Damaged: Destroyed: Damaged: 3004 Destroyed: 2 Destroyed: 2 Map 4.4.: Wildland Fires in the Kansas City Metro Area, (by Fire District) Mid-America Regional Council June 205

4 Map 4.4.2: Building Damages from Wildland Fires in K.C. Metro Area, (by Fire District) Probable Locations To identify buildings susceptible to wildland fire within urban/wildland interface areas in the Kansas City metro, existing land-cover data from MARC s GIS database was used. Buildings were classified as susceptible to wildland fires if they were in a susceptible land cover patch of at least four acres, outside of the developed area, and in a large lot. 203 land-cover classes were grouped by general fire susceptibility, where coniferous forest, herbaceous, mixed forest, shrub-scrub, and upland herbaceous/cultivated classes were considered susceptible to wildland fires. Classes considered not susceptible are barren land, impervious buildings, impervious other, lowland deciduous forest, lowland herbaceous/cultivated, not classified, upland deciduous forest, and water. Next, buildings were filtered to exclude urban and developed areas. Buildings were selected in firesusceptible land-cover patches of at least four contiguous acres. Since the land-cover data includes right-of-way, the data includes roads as fire breaks. The remaining buildings were selected within residential single-family land-use areas of at least.35 acres, within parks, and within vacant/agricultural areas. Finally, buildings within the redevelopment area defined by MARC were excluded from the set of fire-susceptible buildings. Mid-America Regional Council June 205

5 Data Limitation: Only counts of susceptible buildings by type are available in the regional building outline data used to develop the maps below and define hazard areas; therefore, the specific property value of each building identified is unavailable. Future updates will seek to identify value of susceptible buildings to better describe potential loss. Map below is the resultant density of wildland fire susceptible buildings by acre within the Plan s five counties. White areas on the map indicate developed or urban areas not susceptible to wildland fires. Using this map, susceptible building counts by jurisdiction were tabulated and used to calculate potential loss estimations for described in Section below. Source: MARC GIS Map 4.4.3: Buildings Susceptible to Wildland Fire in Wildland-Urban Interface Areas Mid-America Regional Council June 205

6 4.4.3 Extent, Severity, Magnitude Severity: Low Magnitude: Although the Kansas City area has some degree of urban-wildland interface and tracts of wooded areas, these conditions are not present across the region to the same extent as in other parts of the state, such as the south-central portion of Missouri. Based on the region s topography, supply of wildfire fuel, continuing new development near forests and grasslands and availability of firefighting resources, the future probable severity of a wildland fire in Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte and Ray counties is low. As stated above, the vast majority of wildland fires in the region have been small and contained and there are no historical records of significant wildland fires in Cass, Clay, Jackson or Platte counties. Ray County has experienced the most buildings damaged by wildfire with a total of 3,00. However, 3,000 of these buildings were damaged in a single, 25-acre fire. The severity of future wildfires is expected to decrease with future land-use development trends and shrinking urban/wildland interfaces Probability of Future Occurrence: High According to the Missouri State Hazard Analysis, forest and grassland fires can occur any day throughout the year. Each year, an average of about 2,800 wildfires burn more than 43,300 acres of forest and grassland in Missouri. Most of the fires occur during the spring season, normally between February 5 and May 0. The length and severity of burning periods largely depend on the weather conditions. Spring in Missouri is noted for its low humidity and high winds. These conditions, together with below-normal precipitation and high temperatures, result in extremely high fire danger. In addition, due to the continued lack of moisture throughout many areas of the state, conditions are likely to increase the risk of wildfires. The second most critical period of the year is fall. cxviii As indicated in Historical Occurrences Section 4.4., there have been,548 wildfires in the region over the last 3 years, making the probability of future occurrences high. The risk may increase during certain periods, such as spring, late fall, or under conditions of excessive heat, dryness or drought. These fires, however, will probably be small and will be contained and eliminated quickly, as has been the case for the overwhelming number of events over the last 3 years Wildland Vulnerability Analysis and Potential Loss Estimates As in the 200 Plan update, the statistical risk assessment methodology was used to calculate loss estimation for wildland fires. With the addition of historical data, this loss estimation has been improved for the 205 Plan update. In the 200 Plan update, total exposure of all assets in a county was used for the maximum loss estimation along with total population. However, this greatly exaggerated the potential risk of wildland fires to infrastructure, as only buildings within the wildland/urban interface are truly susceptible. To refine this risk, wildland/urban interface areas were mapped with GIS to count building infrastructure within these interfaces (see Section above). The total building count in these interface areas was then used as one of the maximum loss metrics for this 205 update. Since there have been no reported deaths or injuries from wildfires, population was dropped as a measurement of vulnerability. In Section a of the 200 Plan, separate potential loss estimates were calculated to understand potential loss in terms of building values at an individual jurisdiction level for certain area-specific Mid-America Regional Council June 205

7 hazards. These hazards included flooding, dam failure, earthquakes and wildland fire. A number of discrepancies were identified with this approach in 200. To resolve some of these discrepancies, this methodology was removed and attempts were made to better quantify potential losses where possible to these area-specific hazards. For wildland fire, since the identification of susceptible areas has much improved since the 200 Plan, individual jurisdictions are included in the maximum and minimum loss estimations below. Since only building counts and not property valuations are available, potential losses could only be calculated using the statistical risk assessment methodology (see Table for a breakdown of building type by jurisdiction). Only current participants in the Plan update are included in the tables below; non-participating jurisdictions and unincorporated areas are accounted for under each county. Participating school districts are not separately listed, but are accounted for in county data. For the minimum loss estimation, the combined average number of buildings damaged and destroyed per fire (number of buildings damaged and destroyed divided by number of fires) was used as the annualized building loss metric, replacing the property valuations used in 200. This was done to account for lack of actual property valuation loss amounts. Table and Table provide the maximum and minimum loss estimations for wildland fires. Table 4.4.3: Maximum Loss Estimation, Wildland Fire Overall Risk (probability and severity) Magnitude (percent of area affected) Number Susceptible Buildings * Maximum Loss Estimation Kansas City Low = 4,98 =3.6 = Medium CASS COUNTY (Includes unincorporated area, school districts and nonparticipating jurisdictions) Low = 5,044 = 3.6 = Medium Belton Low = 236 = 3.6 = Medium Harrisonville Low = 99 = 3.6 = Medium Lake Winnebago Low = 4 = 2.3 = Low Peculiar Low = 0 = = Low Pleasant Hill Medium = 2 44 = 3 2 = Medium Raymore Low = 599 = 3.6 = Medium CLAY COUNTY (Includes unincorporated area, school districts and nonparticipating jurisdictions) Low = 9,26 = 3.6 = Medium Excelsior Springs Medium = 2 2 = 3 2 = Medium Gladstone Low = 0 = = Low Kearney Low = 239 =3.6 = Medium Liberty Low = 562 = 3.6 = Medium Mosby/Fishing River FPD High = 3 5 = 2 2 = Medium North Kansas City Low = 0 = = Low Smithville Medium = = 3.6 = Medium Mid-America Regional Council June 205

8 Table 4.4.3: Maximum Loss Estimation, Wildland Fire Overall Risk (probability and severity) Magnitude (percent of area affected) Number Susceptible Buildings * Maximum Loss Estimation JACKSON COUNTY (Includes unincorporated area, school districts and nonparticipating jurisdictions) Low = 2,90 = 3.6 = Medium Blue Springs Low = 437 = 3.6 = Medium Grandview Medium = 2 6 = 3 2 = Medium Independence Low =,33 = 3.6 = Medium Lee's Summit Medium = 2 3 = 3 2 = Medium Oak Grove/Sni-Valley FPD Medium = 2 80 = 3 2 = Medium Raytown Low = 2 =.6 = Medium PLATTE COUNTY (Includes unincorporated area, school districts and nonparticipating jurisdictions) Low = 4,640 = 3.6 = Medium Edgerton Low = 35 =2.3 = Low Farley Low = 42 = 2.3 = Low Ferrelview? 2 = = Low Houston Lake Low = = = Low Lake Waukomis Low = 0 = = Low Northmoor Low = 0 = = Low Parkville Low = 27 = 3.6 = Medium Platte City/Northland RAD Medium = 2 2 = 2.6 = Medium Platte Woods Medium = 2 0 =.6 = Medium Riverside Low = 27 = 2.3 = Low Tracy Low = 5 = = Low Weatherby Lake Low = 2 = = Low Weston/ West Platte FPD Medium = 2 39 = 2.6 = Medium RAY COUNTY (Includes unincorporated area, school districts and nonparticipating jurisdictions) Low = 430 = 3.3 = Low Richmond Low = = = Low * See Table for susceptible buildings by type Sources: MDC, MARC GIS Mid-America Regional Council June 205

9 Overall Risk (probability and severity) Table 4.4.4: Minimum Loss Estimation, Wildland Fire Magnitude (percent of area affected) Annualized Loss (Average Buildings Damaged/Destroyed Divided by Number of Fires) Buildings Destroyed Number of Fires Result Loss Rank Minimum Loss Estimation Kansas City Low = = Low CASS COUNTY Low = = Low Belton Low = = Low Harrisonville Low = 0.09 = Low Lake Winnebago Low = = Low Peculiar Low = = Low Pleasant Hill Medium = = Medium Raymore Low = = Low CLAY COUNTY Low = = Low Excelsior Springs Medium = = Low Gladstone Low = = Low Kearney Low = = Low Liberty Low = = Low Mosby/Fishing River FPD High = = Medium North Kansas City Low = = Low Smithville Medium = = Low JACKSON COUNTY Low = = Low Blue Springs Low = = Low Grandview Medium = = Low Independence Low = = Low Lee's Summit Medium = = Low Oak Grove/Sni- Valley FPD Medium = = Low Raytown Low = = Low PLATTE COUNTY Low = = Low Dearborn Low = = Low Edgerton Low = = Low Farley Low = = Low Ferrelview Low = = Low Houston Lake Low = = Low Lake Waukomis Low = = Low Northmoor Low = = Low Parkville Low = = Low Platte City/Northland RAD Medium = = Low Mid-America Regional Council June 205

10 Overall Risk (probability and severity) Table 4.4.4: Minimum Loss Estimation, Wildland Fire Magnitude (percent of area affected) Annualized Loss (Average Buildings Damaged/Destroyed Divided by Number of Fires) Buildings Destroyed Number of Fires Result Loss Rank Minimum Loss Estimation Platte Woods Medium = = Low Riverside Low = = Low Tracy Low = = Low Weatherby Lake Low = = Low Weston/ West Platte FPD Medium = = Low RAY COUNTY Low = = Low Richmond Low = = Low Sources: MDC, 200 Census Table 4.4.5: Fire Susceptible Buildings by Type and Commercial Condominium Industrial/Business Park Multi-Family Office Cass County ,907 4,665 7,300 5,044 Belton Harrisonville Lake Winnebago Peculiar Pleasant Hill Raymore Clay County ,97,969 3,953 9,26 Excelsior Springs (pt.) Gladstone Kearney Liberty Mosby North Kansas City Smithville (pt.) Parks, Open Space Public/Semipublic Right-of-Way Railroad Right-of-Way Single Family Single Family Low Density Vacant/Agriculture Jackson County ,522 3,962 3,770 2,90 Blue Springs Grandview Mid-America Regional Council 4.40 June 205

11 Table 4.4.5: Fire Susceptible Buildings by Type and Commercial Condominium Industrial/Business Park Multi-Family Office Independence (pt.) ,33 Kansas City (pt.) ,23 Lee's Summit (pt.) ,3 Oak Grove (pt.) Raytown Platte County , ,929 4,640 Edgerton Farley Ferrelview Houston Lake Lake Waukomis Northmoor Parkville Platte City Platte Woods Riverside Tracy Weatherby Lake Weston Parks, Open Space Public/Semipublic Right-of-Way Railroad Right-of-Way Single Family Single Family Low Density Vacant/Agriculture Ray County Richmond Problem Statements The greatest known cause of wildfires across the region is debris buildup on private property, with a total of 457 wildfires attributed to this cause. Problem statements, such as those below, can support development of mitigation strategies for wildland fires: Some communities may not have burn bans or property ordinances. Where they don t exist or are ineffective, burn bans or property ordinances should be reviewed/adopted to dissuade debris buildup. Certain incentives for property owners can help ensure debris piles are managed; some communities may not have the ability to provide incentives. Targeted public information campaigns should focus on the threats of wildland fires and preventive measures. Mid-America Regional Council 4.4 June 205