Almost half of the full community costs of wildfire are paid for at the local level, including homeowners, businesses, and government agencies.
Natural Hazards
Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017
Explore all communities threatened by wildfires from 2000 to 2017.
Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017: Sortable Table
The sortable table identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities.
Assessing Wildfire and Populations at Risk
A new tool helps the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico assess wildfire and populations at risk.
Great Lakes Cities Vulnerability Assessment Tool
Identify neighborhoods in six Great Lakes cities that meet socioeconomic vulnerability criteria.
Communities Reduce Wildfire Risk Through Land Use Planning
Updated: The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program now helps 30 communities reduce wildfire risk through improved land use planning.
Planning Tools to Reduce Montana’s Wildfire Risk
County governments, fire districts and service areas, and landowners have many opportunities to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface through land use planning tools and strategies, though challenges in Montana’s regulatory framework remain.
Disasters and Populations at Risk: Lack of Vehicle Makes Evacuation Difficult
Lack of access to a vehicle, poverty, and disabilities, can make evacuation difficult or impossible for some households.
Fire & Flood: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey for Wildfire
A lack of land use planning amplified the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Wildfire-prone communities should take note.
Resilient Taos County: Living with Wildfire
This story map provides Taos County residents with information about the ecological role of fire, the region’s wildfire risk, forest restoration projects, and emergency preparedness.
Wildfire Experts’ Paper Informs Effective Policy
Wildfire experts outline key science insights important to inform policy discussions and development while reducing future risks and costs.
Tennessee Wildfires: Now Is the Time to Plan
The wildfires that burned the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park devastated nearby communities and underscore the need to reduce the risks and costs of future catastrophic events.
Does Insurance Affect Home Development on Wildfire-Prone Lands?
It is unlikely that insurance rates and policies alone will determine whether or not a landowner decides to build a new home on wildfire-prone land.
Identifying Communities at Risk to Wildfire
Mapping and understanding communities at risk from wildfires just became easier with a new interactive tool generated by Headwaters Economics.
Summary: Wildfire Costs, New Development, and Rising Temperatures
This summary highlights the major research Headwaters Economics has conducted concerning controlling fire suppression costs, state case studies, and the growth of homes in the WUI.
Rising Wildfire Costs Encourage Better Land Use Planning
Five urban areas in the West and Southwest are taking steps to mitigate wildfire risks and costs through the perspective of land use planning.
Land Use Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Case studies show how five urban areas in the West are using innovative land use planning tools to adapt to the increasing risks from wildfires.
Home Construction in the High Divide
The High Divide region, recognized as one of the most intact biological areas in the lower 48 states, is attracting many new residents and home construction is changing the landscape.
Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue
Wildfires increasingly are threatening urban areas—often repeatedly—putting more homes, lives, infrastructure, and other resources at risk.
Reducing Wildfire Risk to Communities: Nine Solutions
This report outlines a number of solutions to alter the pace, scale, and pattern of future development in the Wildland-Urban Interface.