Description
Urban wildfires are increasing in frequency, intensity, and impact, posing a growing threat to the built environment and the communities structural engineers serve. While the profession has developed robust tools and codified approaches for hazards such as earthquakes, wind, and snow, comparable guidance for wildfire-resistant structural design remains limited.
This webinar series is designed to help close that gap. It will provide structural engineers with practical design considerations, emerging research, and recommended approaches for evaluating and mitigating the effects of urban wildfires on structures. Topics will address fire exposure mechanisms, structural performance under fire conditions, and strategies for improving resilience through design and detailing.
NCSEA and Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) have convened leading practicing engineers and researchers with expertise in structural fire engineering and wildfire mitigation to share lessons learned, current best practices, and future directions for the profession. Structural engineers from all regions of the country are invited to participate in this timely and essential educational series.
The registration fee for the series is $595 for members ($995 for nonmembers), which includes all 6 hours of education. Each individual webinar can be purchased separately for $250 for members ($300 for nonmembers).
- Purchase all 6 webinars in the Seminar and have access to the recordings for 1 Year.
- Each seminar purchase is per office location. If your firm is operating remotely, please review the Webinar FAQ’s on how to accommodate multiple users from the same location.
- Each webinar is 60 minutes long (1 PDH), and is from 12p.m. – 1p.m. CT.
Please note: These webinars are not included in the NCSEA Webinar Subscription.
Thank you to our Sponsor!
Schedule of Events
March 24, 2026: Design Mitigations for Fire – Presented by Erica Fischer, Ph.D., P.E. – RECORDING AVAILABLE
Wildfires are growing in frequency, intensity, and geographic reach, placing increasing risk on buildings in wildland–urban interface (WUI) communities. This webinar explores design-based mitigation strategies that can significantly reduce wildfire exposure and improve post-fire resilience, grounded in data and lessons learned from recent wildfire events.
The presentation highlights evidence-based approaches at three scales:
- Building scale: fire-resistant materials, assemblies, and detailing to limit flame and ember intrusion
- Parcel scale: defensible space, landscaping, topography, and setbacks that influence fire behavior near structures
- Community scale: neighborhood layout and firefighter access considerations
Case studies from the 2025 Los Angeles Fires and the 2021 Marshall Fire illustrate what worked, what failed, and why. By synthesizing current research, codes, and best practices, this session equips engineers with practical strategies to reduce wildfire vulnerability, enhance life safety, and strengthen long-term resilience in fire-prone regions.
March 31, 2026: Reconnaissance and Resilience: The 2025 Los Angeles Fires – Presented by Emily Frazier, P.E., and Khalid Saifullah, Ph.D. – RECORDING AVAILABLE
Wildfire risk is high across much of California, with Southern California especially vulnerable due to climate, vegetation, topography, and wind. The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires showed how quickly fires can escalate into catastrophic urban events, destroying thousands of structures in hours.
This webinar presents findings from post-fire reconnaissance efforts led by the SEAOSC Disaster and Emergency Services Committee in collaboration with the Existing Building Committee and SEAOSC Board. Volunteer structural engineers collected perishable field data using observations, checklists, and photogrammetry.
The presentation will highlight key lessons learned and discuss aspects that may have implications for structural design, emergency response, and community resilience, showing how real-world wildfire performance data can inform future planning in fire-prone regions.
April 7, 2026: Post-Fire Foundation Assessments: Practical Guidelines & Heat Transfer Analysis – Presented by Garrett Mills, S.E., and Samantha Eng, P.E. – RECORDING AVAILABLE
This webinar explores the practical application of the SEAOC Recommended Investigation and Design Guidelines for Foundations Exposed to Fire, released following the January 2025 wildfires. Using real-world case studies, the presentation will outline effective methodologies for post-fire foundation damage assessments, emphasizing visual inspections, non-destructive testing, and material sampling.
The session will also examine how preliminary heat transfer analysis can support evaluation of shallow and deep concrete foundations exposed to wildfire and structure fires. Findings from recent studies will illustrate how factors such as soil cover, soil density, temperature exposure, and transitions to above-grade elements influence heat penetration and potential material degradation.
Attendees will gain insight into practical reuse and repair strategies, as well as how targeted excavation—guided by heat transfer analysis—can improve assessment efficiency and confidence when determining foundation performance after fire exposure.
April 14, 2026: Fire Engineering of Mass Timber Structures – Presented by Parisa Nassiri, P.E. – RECORDING AVAILABLE
Mass timber is rapidly gaining traction as a structural system, bringing new opportunities—and new fire design challenges—for engineers. This webinar provides a practical introduction to mass timber construction with a focused emphasis on fire-resistant design.
The session will cover key fire engineering principles for mass timber structures, including the implications of emerging construction types, common detailing requirements, and how mass timber behaves under fire exposure. Attendees will learn how structural fire performance-based design can be applied in practice, supported by real-world case studies and lessons learned from completed projects.
Designed for practicing engineers, this course equips participants with foundational knowledge and practical insights needed to confidently design mass timber structures that meet fire safety and performance objectives.
April 21, 2026: On the Fire Line: Structures Pushed to the Extreme in the Wildland-Urban Interface – Presented by Jon Glassman, Ph.D., P.E., CRE, CSQE – RECORDING AVAILABLE
Tradition and evolving hazards collide at the wildland-urban interface development, where civil engineers are forced to confront fire scenarios that challenge conventional design assumptions for both buildings and bridges. Drawing on field experience as a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Structures Specialist deployed to the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2023 Hawaii Wildfires, combined with professional practice and academic research in structural fire performance, this webinar will dive into how concrete structures behave under extreme fire conditions and what this means for engineering practice.
Using case-based observations combined with the latest advances in structural fire research, Dr. Glassman will discuss how fire impacts the performance and functionality of our built environment, from buildings to critical lifelines such as highway bridges. Taking an on-the-fire-line perspective, this webinar will offer practical insights that, when merged with current research, can guide resilient design of structures in an increasingly volatile fire environment.
April 28, 2026: Fire Engineering of Steel Structures – Presented by Michael Drury, Ph.D., P.E. – RECORDING AVAILABLE
Design for fire safety has traditionally relied on prescriptive building code requirements. However, advances in performance-based design and a growing awareness of the risks posed by increasing wildfire hazards are driving broader adoption of structural fire engineering by engineers and project stakeholders.
This webinar will outline key structural considerations for steel structures exposed to fire, including material behavior at elevated temperatures, load effects, and fire protection strategies. The presentation will also introduce available resources, guidelines, and analysis tools that support structural fire design, helping engineers apply these concepts in practice and integrate fire considerations into resilient structural solutions.
