USA: California Department of Forestry to use new color-coded risk matrices
California Department of Forestry to use newcolor-coded risk matrices
08 December 2004
(published by North County Times)
By: North County Times wire services SAN DIEGO – The California Departmentof Forestry and Fire Protection will begin using color-coded matrices to assesshigh wildland fire risk to buildings and deploy resources accordingly, adivision chief said Wednesday.
The process is used by the U.S. Army and has been borrowed bythree California fire agencies, CDF Division Chief Bill Clayton said.
The color codes are arranged in a matrix, or box, and can be placed on pocketcards or planning documents, Clayton said.
The colors — red, yellow and green — represent a level of risk for bothprotection of homes and of firefighters, Clayton said.
Red represents high fire risk of homes that are difficult to protect, with arisk of trapped firefighters, Clayton said. Extensive resources are needed forsuch fires, he added.
Yellow represents moderate risk to homes, with the deployment of strike teamsrecommended, Clayton said.
Green represents low fire risk for homes, making it relatively easy to protectneighborhoods with limited resources, Clayton said.
Source: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/09/news/state/16_48_4812_8_04.txt
