Conference Overview

Wildfire Resilient Structures (WiReS) Conference

The Wildfire Resilient Structures (WiReS) conference addresses the WUI fire risk problems inherent to the built environment to support resilient and equitable communities.  With a shared goal of implementation through education, the WiReS conference will make local, regional, and state impact through the presentation and promotion of applied science, knowledge, and technology advancements to Decision Makers.

Conference Dates: February 7 - 10, 2023
Location: Mission Valley, San Diego, California
Venue & Hotel Name: Town and Country Resort
Hybrid options available for virtual attendees

Motivation

Wildfires are an ever-present and increasing threat to the well-being of the world population, infrastructure and economy, particularly in the U.S. Western states. Wildfire seasons over the last few years have been the most destructive in history, each year more destructive than the last, and wildfire severity is expected to further increase due to climate change. These issues illustrate the need to improve our built environment and increase the resilience of buildings to wildfires.

Conference Goals

  1. To bring together stakeholders, including researchers, architects, engineers, manufacturers, building officials, first responders, building and materials industry representatives, government representatives, tribal representatives, homeowners, insurers, realtors, and lenders to identify the major roadblocks to improving wildfire resilience of our buildings.
  2. Propose new short-term and long-term solutions based on state-of-the-art technologies, scientific developments, and best practices.
  3. Accelerate the technology transfer from research to practice of advanced wildfire risk mitigation techniques for buildings.
  4. Guide future research, technology advances, and policy development toward best serving our communities against the increasing challenges wildfires.

General Topics List

  • Land use planning & code development
  • Design of new buildings
  • Retrofit of existing buildings
  • Defensible space development and maintenance
  • WUI code and policy development
  • Community recovery
  • Exposure assessment and mitigation

Structure and Format

  • Invited keynote presentations
  • Scientific and policy presentations
  • Workshops
  • Trainings
  • Networking and interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities
  • Tradeshow of products and services focused on wildfire resilience

Hosted By:

UC Davis Air Quality Research Center and UC Davis Climate Adaptation Research Center