Wildfire expert available for interviews and commentary.

Credit as

Todd Lando, Wildfire Mitigation Expert and Battalion Chief.

Short bio (one line)

Todd Lando is a wildfire mitigation specialist with more than 35 years in the fire service, from seasonal firefighter to battalion chief, who coined "Zone 0" and helped make it the national standard for the five feet closest to a structure.

Medium bio

Todd Lando is a wildfire mitigation specialist with more than 35 years in the fire service, from seasonal firefighter to battalion chief, all of it in Northern California. In 2018 he coined "Zone 0" to name the five feet closest to a structure, helped carry it into fire service standards and California regulation, and has studied its results at thousands of homes hit by wildfire. A recognized voice on wildfire evacuation and resident preparedness, he has led community-scale evacuation studies and developed the guidance and training built from them. He served as executive director of the nation's first two nonprofit fire safe councils, serves on California's Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, and is an NFPA Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist. He works on wildfire mitigation in the US and Europe.

Long bio

Todd Lando is a wildfire mitigation specialist with more than 35 years in the fire service, from seasonal firefighter to battalion chief, all of it in Northern California. He has worked both the front lines and the planning side of the fires that reshaped how the fire service treats the wildland-urban interface, including the 1991 Oakland and Berkeley Hills Tunnel Fire, the 2017 North Bay fires, the 2017 Thomas Fire, and the 2018 Camp Fire.

In 2018 he coined "Zone 0" to name the five feet closest to a structure. The science on that area was well established; a usable name for it was not. The term gave researchers, regulators, and homeowners a common vocabulary, fit cleanly into the existing defensible space zone system, and has since become the national standard, now written into California regulation. His part did not end with the name. He helped carry Zone 0 from a concept into fire service practice and state policy, and he has studied its results at thousands of homes hit by wildfire, documenting what the absence of an ember-resistant zone cost. That fieldwork is the basis of his advice to owners, designers, and agencies on how to put Zone 0 in place and why it works.

A recognized voice on wildfire evacuation and resident preparedness, he has led community-scale evacuation studies and developed the guidance and training built from them. He served as executive director of Fire Safe San Mateo County and Fire Safe Marin, the nation's first two nonprofit fire safe councils, and helped develop several of the community wildfire mitigation programs now in use nationally. He serves on California's Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, holds the NFPA Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist credential, and is principal of XMR Fire, a wildfire consulting practice serving the western US and Europe. A dual US and Italian (EU) citizen, he is available for work and interviews across North America and Europe.