The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announced the 2016 theme for Arson Awareness Week: Prevent Wildfire Arson—Spread the Facts Not the Fire. USFA and its partners will use the week of May 1 – 7 to focus attention on wildfire arson, particularly in the wildland-urban interface.

USFA is partnering this year with several groups including NASF, the USDA Forest Service (USFS), National Wildfire Coordination Group, National Fire Protection Association and several more leaders in the fire community.

According to the Department of Interior’s Wildland Fire Management Information System, from 2010 to 2014, 23% of fires reported were arson. The USFS reports that individual arson fires can cause damages to resources and communities totaling over a hundred million dollars.

“The wildland-urban interface has been described as ‘the newest big fire problem’ said United States Fire Administrator Ernie Mitchell. “When you compound it with the crime of arson, it’s more important than ever to set up Fire-Adapted Communities to protect these vulnerable areas.”

NASF’s 2013 Report on Communities at Risk cites more than 72,000 U.S. communities are now at risk from wildfire within the wildland-urban interface.

From the National Assn. Of State Foresters: https://www.stateforesters.org/news-events/blog/arson-awareness-week-kicks-sunday#sthash.uZ2Xbn4W.Y9ncEKdW.dpbs