#438 - HARRY STATTER, Founder of Frontline Wildfire Defense
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Harry Statter, founder of Frontline Wildfire Defense. He offers his perspectives on landscape ecology; the natural fire regime; issues caused by overcontrolling fires; how and why Frontline was founded; Frontline software services and process; water management system; retrofit solutions and preparing for the next fire; rebuilding homes with long-term mindset; future development of Frontline; and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT HARRY
Harry Statter is a wildfire ecologist and technologist, who has been at the forefront of wildfire mitigation efforts for more than two decades. He is the founder of Frontline Wildfire Defense, which provides digitally connected exterior sprinkler systems to protect homes and businesses from wildfires, as well as a free mobile app with live wildfire tracking and evacuation notifications. Harry is passionate about empowering people to protect their homes and communities in an era of increasingly severe weather events.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Early childhood & career.
(03:31) Landscape Ecology.
(12:48) Natural Fire Regime.
“Historically, we think that we can control nature. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t think you could point to any natural process that has ever been controlled by humans...let alone one that is assisted by human management.” (13:37)
“We don’t have a great feedback loop for the damage of fire management policies. We think in terms of the number of fires put out and the number of acres protected. This concept is delusional, as those acres have depended on that fire to thrive in the first place.” (15:02)
(17:02) Issues caused by overcontrolling fires.
(23:41) How Frontline started.
“Embers cause 90% of structure ignitions during a fire. If it’s a hurricane-force wind, these embers can get lofted to a 24-mile radius. They land on the combustible surfaces of the structure or adjacent fuels and cause a small fire. There could be half a million to one million homes and businesses that burn simultaneously. There are way too many structures to protect than available firefighters on the ground.” (27:56)
(30:27) Motivation to create Frontline.
(35:24) Frontline software services & process.
(42:07) Water management & fire prevention system.
“You need very, very little water to avoid a fire. You need a lot of water to put a fire out.” (42:51)
(46:42) Frontline software system in public use.
(52:17) Retrofit fire prevention & preparing for the next fire.
“Architects need to understand that a self-defense mechanism is necessary because there’ll never be enough firefighters. The code renews every five years, but significant weather event happens once every three weeks. The climate is moving way faster than the code cycle is. We’ve got to be ahead of the building code.” (56:32)
(58:51) Insurance & Frontline system.
(01:00:47) Rebuilding homes with a long-term mindset.
(01:03:14) Future development of Frontline.
(01:04:05) Favorite place in Jackson Hole.
