2023 Gold Medal Award

The group is recognized for technical innovations that revealed for the first time the complex behavior of wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires and resulted in practical tools to assess and reduce WUI hazards in communities. Critical fire pathways found in post-fire investigations led to the design of experiments to measure fire spread in communities and determine necessary separation distances between structures and other fuel sources. The group delivered greatly needed tools and guidance for WUI fire mitigation, planning, and response to federal, state, and community leaders.