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"Few other activities can expend as much money in so short a time." "Our duty is to both the public at large, and to the individual." "Solutions must include both structural and wildland fire I " e ements. . Wildfire suppression costs are not fairly borne by those who create the risk in the intermix. When improvements are threatened, fire control costs are higher than similar fires with no structures. Aggressive air attack and extra forces are quickly committed because of the perceived high values of improvements at risk. Federal, state and county agencies who are not authorized or funded for structure fires are called to help and thereby find themselves paying much of the higher cost to defend structures, whether insured or not, from wildfires. Local fire departments responsible for structure fires cannot pay the high cost of extra resources needed to defend structures from wildfires. Homeowners who receive the benefit of the extra fire effort pay nothing extra. . Threatened structures change wildfire suppression priorities. Fire situations in which improvements are threatened are high priority. Critically needed wildfire control forces funded for resource and watershed fire protection are often assigned to defend structures. Additional land area is often sacrificed to protect homes. Paradoxically, perimeter control becomes secondary to defending structures from fire, allows the fire to spread and thereby exposes more improvements to the fire's threat. . Structure and wildland fire protection agencies must be closely coordinated. As homes and forest/brush become a mixture, wildfire and structure fire forces must work together. Fire force organization and tactics must meet the total need. Radio communications must exist and be matched to ensure understanding. Agencies with differing roles must work as a team. Although some coordination has been occurring, still more is needed. 11