![]() There aren’t many studies looking at the societal impacts of massive wildfires, so the researchers relied on existing literature that examined other environmental disasters, mainly hurricanes, to identify socioeconomic factors that contributed to whether a person recovered from a disaster. ![]() ![]() Red areas highlight places where human communities are most vulnerable. The map on the left adds the human dimension, incorporating socioeconomic factors in determining how likely an area is to adapt and recover from a wildfire. The map on the right shows wildfire potential across the entire country, as determined by the U.S. census - including income, housing type, English fluency and health - for more than 71,000 census tracts across the country and overlays them with wildfire potential based on weather, historical fire activity and burnable fuels on the landscape. ![]() The approach takes 13 socioeconomic measures from the U.S. This study is one of the first to integrate both the physical risk of wildfire with the social and economic resilience of communities to see which areas across the country are most vulnerable to large wildfires. “But there are actually millions of people who live in areas that have a high wildfire potential and are very poor, or don’t have access to vehicles or other resources, which makes it difficult to adapt or recover from a wildfire disaster.” “A general perception is that communities most affected by wildfires are affluent people living in rural and suburban communities near forested areas,” said lead author Ian Davies, a graduate student in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. In particular, Native Americans are six times more likely than other groups to live in areas most prone to wildfires. 2 in the journal PLOS ONE, show that racial and ethnic minorities face greater vulnerability to wildfires compared with primarily white communities. Researchers at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy used census data to develop a “vulnerability index” to assess wildfire risk in communities across the U.S. And many are burning in areas experiencing record-shattering extreme heat.Massive wildfires, which may be getting more intense due to climate change and a long history of fire-suppression policies, also have strikingly unequal effects on minority communities, a new study shows. Some of California’s wildfires are burning in mountainous areas, making it even more difficult for firefighters to contain them. Together, these fires - along with the growing Holy Fire in Orange County and a number of other infernos across the state - have destroyed more than 1,000 homes and structures, and have taken at least nine lives. Two firefighters have also died while working on the fire. That 94,331-acre flame is now in its 26th day and promoted Yosemite National Park officials to close the popular Yosemite Valley for the first time in 20 years - during peak tourism season. Down in Mariposa County near Yosemite National Park, thousands of firefighters are still battling the stubborn Ferguson fire. Sparked by a vehicle failure nearby, the fire has destroyed more than 1,000 homes and taken the lives of at least seven people. More than 160 miles north, the Carr Fire in Redding has burned through 164,413 acres and is 47% contained, as of Tuesday morning. It has now burned 290,692 acres and is just 34% contained, according to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). By Monday, the Mendocino Complex fire burning just north of wine country in Northern California became the states largest-ever fire. Thousands of firefighters are currently battling the flames of 14 active fires, which are threatening communities from Redding in Northern California to Orange County in Southern California. Fast-moving and aggressive wildfires are scorching California – killing at least nine people and destroying more than 1,000 homes and businesses.
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