Wildfire is a natural hazard caused mostly by the interaction of human systems and natural phenomena. This research aims to investigate how extreme wildfire events and disasters that occurred in California in the recent three decades are related to socio-economic-demographic characteristics at the levels of census tracts and counties. In addition, this research will use the data of historic wildfires to show counties and census tracts vulnerable to the natural hazard as well as the cyclical changes such as seasonal and annual fluctuations in the wildfire occurrences in the state. To decide how those variables correlate, this research used a Geographic Information System (GIS) designed to collect, analyze, query, and display geographical information. Two types of secondary data were used to conduct the research. One is the geospatial data showing each location of wildfires. The other is the data about such sociodemographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, level of education, and income, which can be collected through the Bureau of Census. In particular, the research employing GIS-based spatial analysis created maps that represent information on the geographic locations of the wildfires at the different geographic levels as well as demographic and socioeconomic factors influenced by the potential risk of wildfires. There are several researching findings. First, this research showed the wildfire-prone communities have comparatively higher level of representation for the populations such as the White and Native Americans. Second, it reveals that Asian people would prefer to reside in communities with a lower level of wildfire risk. In contrast with previous research reporting the Black, Hispanic or Native American people are more vulnerable to wildfire, this research showed only the census tracts with the higher number of the Native Americans are more exposed to the wildfire risk, compared with other census tracts. Third, it revealed that people with a higher level of educational attainment would prefer to reside in communities with a lower level of chemical risk. Forth and lastly, this research indicates that the census tracts that have a higher median household income and median housing price have a negative relationship with the wildfire risk, meaning that people with a higher level of the income or a relatively higher-priced home prefer residing in communities less subject to the natural hazard. Therefore, it can be concluded that associations exist between wildfire risk and certain socio-economic and demographic characteristics.
KeywordsEnvironmental HazardWildfire RiskGIS
Jolly, W.M., Cochrane, M.A., Freeborn, P.H., Holden, Z.A., Brown, T.J., Williamson, G.J. and Bowman, D.M. (2015) Climate-Induced Variations in Global Wildfire Danger from 1979 to 2013. Nature Communications, 6, Article No. 7537. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8537
Lindenmayer, D.B. and Taylor, C. (2020) New Spatial Analyses of Australian Wildfires Highlight Vulnerability to Wildfire Using Surveys, Spatial Data and Wildfire Simulations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 12481-12485. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002269117
Davies, I.P., Haugo, R.D., Robertson, J.C. and Levin, P.S. (2018) The Unequal Vulnerability of Communities of Color to Wildfire. PLOS ONE, 13, e0205825. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205825
Burke, M., Driscoll, A., Heft-Neal, S., Xue, J., Burney, J. and Wara, M. (2021) The Changing Risk and Burden of Wildfire in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, e2011048118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011048118
Rosenthal, A., Stover, E. and Haar, R.J. (2021) Health and Social Impacts of California Wildfires and the Deficiencies in Current Recovery Resources: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Systems-Level Issues. PLOS ONE, 16, e0248617. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248617
Akter, S. and Grafton, R.Q. (2021) Do Fires Discriminate? Socio-Economic Disadvantage, Wildfire Hazard Exposure and the Australian 2019-20 “Black Summer” Fires. Climatic Change, 165, Article No. 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03064-6
Hamideh, S., Sen, P. and Fischer, E. (2022) Wildfire Impacts on Education and Healthcare: Paradise, California, after the Camp Fire. Natural Hazards, 111, 353-387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-05057-1
Paveglio, T.B., Edgeley, C.M. and Stasiewicz, A.M. (2018) Assessing Influences on Social Vulnerability to Wildfire Using Surveys, Spatial Data and Wildfire Simulations. Journal of Environmental Management, 213, 425-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.068
Kauffman, E. (2003) Climate and Topography. In: Parisi, M., Ed., Atlas of the Biodiversity of California, California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, 12-15.
Keeley, J.E. and Syphard, A.D. (2018) Historical Patterns of Wildfire Ignition Sources in California Ecosystems. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 781-799. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18026
Mhawej, M., Faour, G. and Adjizian-Gerard, J. (2015) Wildfire Likelihood’s Elements: A Literature Review. Challenges, 6, 282-293. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe6020282
Disaster
Emergency Management
Risk Analysis
Westerling, A.L., Hidalgo, H.G., Cayan, D.R. and Swetnam, T.W. (2006) Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western US Forest Wildfire Activity. Science, 313, 940-943. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128834
Finney, M.A., Cohen, J.D., Grenfell, I.C. and Yedinak, K.M. (2010) An Examination of Fire Spread Thresholds in Discontinuous Fuel Beds. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 19, 163-170. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07177
Bessie, W.C. and Johnson, E.A. (1995) The Relative Importance of Fuels and Weather on Fire Behavior in Subalpine Forests. Ecology, 76, 747-762. https://doi.org/10.2307/1939341
Halofsky, J.E., Peterson, D.L. and Harvey, B.J. (2020) Changing Wildfire, Changing Forests: The Effects of Climate Change on Fire Regimes and Vegetation in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Fire Ecology, 16, Article No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-019-0062-8
Dillon, G.K., Holden, Z.A., Morgan, P., Crimmins, M.A., Heyerdahl, E.K. and Luce, C.H. (2011) Both Topography and Climate Affected Forest and Woodland Burn Severity in Two Regions of the Western US, 1984 to 2006. Ecosphere, 2, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1890/ES11-00271.1
Bigio, E.R., Swetnam, T.W. and Baisan, C.H. (2016) Local-Scale and Regional Climate Controls on Historical Fire Regimes in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Forest Ecology and Management, 360, 311-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.10.041
Iniguez, J.M., Swetnam, T.W. and Yool, S.R. (2008) Topography Affected Landscape Fire History Patterns in Southern Arizona, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 256, 295-303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.04.023
Marlon, J.R., Bartlein, P.J., Gavin, D.G., Long, C.J., Anderson, R.S., Briles, C.E., Walsh, M.K., et al. (2012) Long-Term Perspective on Wildfires in the Western USA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, E535-E543. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112839109
Calvino-Cancela, M., Chas-Amil, M.L., García-Martínez, E.D. and Touza, J. (2016) Wildfire Risk Associated with Different Vegetation Types within and outside Wildland-Urban Interfaces. Forest Ecology and Management, 372, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.04.002
Alexandre, P.M., Stewart, S.I., Mockrin, M.H., Keuler, N.S., Syphard, A.D., Bar-Massada, A. and Radeloff, V.C. (2016) The Relative Impacts of Vegetation, Topography and Spatial Arrangement on Building Loss to Wildfires in Case Studies of California and Colorado. Landscape Ecology, 31, 415-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0257-6
Li, S. and Banerjee, T. (2021) Spatial and Temporal Pattern of Wildfires in California from 2000 to 2019. Scientific Reports, 11, Article No. 8779. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88131-9
Cutter, S.L., Barnes, L., Berry, M., Burton, C., Evans, E., Tate, E. and Webb, J. (2008) A Place-Based Model for Understanding Community Resilience to Natural Disasters. Global Environmental Change, 18, 598-606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.07.013
Adger, W.N., Hughes, T.P. and Folke, C.C. and Rockstrom, J. (2005) Social-Ecological Resilience to Coastal Disasters. Science, 309, 1036-1039. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112122
Flanagan, B.E., Gregory, E.W., Hallisey, E.J., Heitgerd, J.L. and Lewis, B.A. (2011) Social Vulnerability Index for Disaster Management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 8, Article No. 3. https://doi.org/10.2202/1547-7355.1792
Morrow, B.H. (1999) Identifying and Mapping Community Vulnerability. Disasters, 23, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7717.00102
Collins, T.W. and Bolin, B. (2009) Situating Hazard Vulnerability: People’s Negotiations with Wildfire Environments in the US Southwest. Environmental Management, 44, 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-009-9333-5
Mercer, D.E. and Prestemon, J.P. (2005) Comparing Production Function Models for Wildfire Risk Analysis in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Forest Policy and Economics, 7, 782-795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2005.03.003
Fatemi, F., Ardalan, A., Aguirre, B., Mansouri, N. and Mohammadfam, I. (2017) Constructing the Indicators of Assessing Human Vulnerability to Industrial Chemical Accidents: A Consensus-Based Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy AHP Approach. PLOS Currents, 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.526884afe308f8876dce69c545357ecd
Brodie, M., Weltzien, E., Altman, D., Blendon, R.J. and Benson, J.M. (2006) Experiences of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Houston Shelters: Implications for Future Planning. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1402-1408. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2005.084475
Donovan, G.H., Champ, P.A. and Butry, D.T. (2007) Wildfire Risk and Housing Prices: A Case Study from Colorado Springs. Land Economics, 83, 217-233. https://doi.org/10.3368/le.83.2.217
Loomis, J. (2004) Do Nearby Forest Fires Cause a Reduction in Residential Property Values? Journal of Forest Economics, 10, 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2004.08.001
Cutter, S.L., Boruff, B.J. and Shirly, W.L. (2003) Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 84, 242-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6237.8402002
Fothergill, A. and Peek, L.A. (2004) Poverty and Disasters in the United States: A Review of Recent Sociological Findings. Natural Hazards, 32, 89-110. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:NHAZ.0000026792.76181.d9
Muttarak, R. and Lutz, W. (2014) Is Education a Key to Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Disasters and Hence Unavoidable Climate Change? Ecology and Society, 19, Article No. 42. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06476-190142