15.13.020 Purpose.

(1)    This chapter recognizes that residential and commercial development is occurring in what was once wilderness in Clark County. Urban encroachment has created a high fire hazard in areas where urban development is intermixed and interfaces with the wilderness. These wildland urban interface/intermix areas occur where elevations exceed five hundred (500) feet, where slopes exceed twenty-five percent (25%) or forest type vegetation exists.

(2)    The purpose of this chapter is:

(a)    To protect lives, homes, businesses and private or public lands in our wilderness areas from the hazards of uncontrolled wildfire;

(b)    To protect our valuable natural wilderness resources from fire hazards created by development;

(c)    To make the best use of our limited fire suppression resources by outlining minimum fire protection requirements for development in the wildland urban interface/intermix areas of Clark County;

(d)    To eliminate unnecessary duplication of statutes, by requiring the removal and replacement or merger of this chapter if a substantially similar one is incorporated into the International Fire Code or other county fire code. (Sec. 2 of Ord. 1993-05-01)