"Wildland-urban fire emergency strategy and tactics differ from either the standard wildland or the standard urban fire suppression practices. Wildland fire suppression largely attempts to keep a fire from spreading beyond its current location. That is, keeping the wildfire away from a valued area protects the values at risk. Urban fire suppression initially addresses life safety (principally building occupants) and then fire containment within a portion of the structure and/or prevents adjacent structure involvement. Neither of the wildland nor the urban suppression practices typically provide for home ignition potential reduction given an encroaching wildfire.
Wildland-urban strategy and tactics assume the wildfire may pass through the residential area without wildfire containment. The wildland-urban strategy and tactics principally focus on preparing the home for the wildfire by reducing the potential for home ignition within the home ignition zone." - Jack Cohen, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service