The Challenge
Wooden park infrastructure can't be quickly replaced
Wooden trail bridges, boardwalks, gateways, and signs are central to how people experience parks — but they're also among the most fire-vulnerable assets parks departments operate.
After a major wildfire, parks often face years of rebuilding. Custom-milled timber, regional craftsmanship, and limited budgets mean replacement isn't a stopgap — it's a multi-season project that closes trails to the public.
Park superintendents and trail managers need a way to harden the wood that defines the visitor experience without replacing it with concrete, steel, or composite materials that don't fit the place.
The Solution
Preserve wood. Prevent ignition.
Wildfire Shield is a non-toxic protective coating that lets wood remain wood. Built on NanoTech's ICP™ platform — the insulative ceramic particle technology TIME named one of the Best Inventions of 2024 — it slows heat transfer into the substrate, raising the effective ignition threshold under flame impingement and radiant heat. Bridges, boardwalks, and signs stay intact through fire events.
The coating is non-toxic with no hazardous off-gassing or runoff after cure — suitable for use in wetlands, riparian corridors, and old-growth forests per project-specific environmental review. Multi-event fire resistance means a single application protects assets through repeated fire seasons.
Why parks departments choose Wildfire Shield
Preserves natural wood character
No structural replacement, no synthetic materials, no change to the visitor experience.
Multi-event fire resistance
Protects through multiple fire seasons — not consumed on first ignition like intumescents.
Safe for sensitive ecosystems
Non-toxic with no hazardous off-gassing or runoff after cure.
Keeps trails open
Avoid the multi-season closures that follow major wood-asset fire losses.
Lower lifecycle cost
Far less expensive than rebuilding custom-milled wooden bridges, boardwalks, and signage.
Visually unobtrusive
Brush, roll, or spray applied. Maintains the look that defines park spaces.
Where trail and park fire protection fits
Wooden footbridges & boardwalks
Single-track and ADA-accessible wooden walkways through fire-prone forests and grasslands.
Trailheads & gateway structures
Wooden arches, sign panels, and entry monuments that define the park experience.
Interpretive & wayfinding signage
Custom-milled wooden signs that are expensive to replace and central to park branding.
Picnic shelters & ramadas
Open-air wooden structures used for events, education, and visitor services.
Campground gates & fencing
Boundary and access-control wood structures throughout developed campgrounds.
Erosion control & boardwalk pilings
Embedded wooden infrastructure that supports trails through wetlands and slopes.
Trusted in fire-prone natural areas
Resists Multiple
Re-Ignition
Non-Toxic
Environmental
TIME Best Inventions 2024
Recognition
Cedar · Redwood · Pine · Douglas Fir
Substrate
Brush · Spray · Roll
Application
Made in the USA
Origin
Wildfire Shield is suited for state and national parks, regional park districts, county trail networks, and private land trusts in fire-prone regions. NanoTech provides project-specific documentation that supports environmental review, procurement, and grant submissions.
Trail & park fire protection FAQs
Wildfire Shield preserves the natural look of wood. It is brush-, roll-, or spray-applied without requiring stain, paint, or visible cladding — so trail bridges, signs, and boardwalks retain the character that defines the park experience.