Cigarette butts, sparking chains, and vehicle mechanical failure all pose roadside fire risks. But you can help prevent those fires. TRB hosted a webinar on Thursday, July 7, 2022 from 12:30-2 p.m. Eastern that summarized vegetation management strategies to reduce or potentially eliminate fires starting on the roadside. Chemical, mechanical, and manual methods can all maximize vegetation control for reducing fire risks. Presenters also examined how to balance stormwater-treatment strategies with fire management strategies.

This webinar is sponsored by the TRB Standing Technical Committee on Roadside Maintenance.

The slides are linked in the meeting materials. View the recorded webinar below.

Webinar agenda and presenters

• Fire risk in California – Ken Murray, California Department of Transportation
• Fire risk in Washington State – Ray Willard, Washington State Department of Transportation
• Question and answer session moderated by Scott Lucas, Ohio Department of Transportation

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Design roadway elements to reduce fires from broken down vehicles or chains’ sparks
• Identify vegetation-management strategies for reducing fire risk while not compromising stormwater quality or increasing the risk of erosive action along the roadside
• Implement vegetation management practices to eliminate noxious/invasive species and replace them with native/drought-tolerant species and reduce fire risk