Social vulnerability of the people exposed to wildfires in U.S. West Coast states

Arash Modaresi Rad; John T. Abatzoglou; Erica Fleishman; Miranda H. Mockrin; Volker C. Radeloff; Yavar Pourmohamad; Megan Cattau; J. Michael Johnson; Philip Higuera; Nicholas J. Nauslar; Mojtaba Sadegh

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adh4615

Social vulnerability of the people exposed to wildfires in U.S. West Coast states

Arash Modaresi Rad, John T. Abatzoglou, Erica Fleishman, Miranda H. Mockrin, Volker C. Radeloff, Yavar Pourmohamad, Megan Cattau, J. Michael Johnson, Philip Higuera, Nicholas J. Nauslar, Mojtaba Sadegh

Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000–2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000–2010 to 2011–2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (>40%) than in California (~8%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans.

Original language	English
Article number	eadh4615
Pages (from-to)	eadh4615
Journal	Science advances
Volume	9
Issue number	38
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh4615
State	Published - Sep 22 2023

Funding

We appreciate the comments of R. L. Winkler (Michigan Technological University) which helped improve the quality of this paper. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. This study was supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (U.S. Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management) grant numbers L21AC10247 and L21AC10244.

Funders	Funder number
Bureau of Land Management	L21AC10244, L21AC10247
Michigan Technological University

Keywords

Humans
Wildfires
Social Vulnerability
Washington
Fires
Vulnerable Populations

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10.1126/sciadv.adh4615

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title = "Social vulnerability of the people exposed to wildfires in U.S. West Coast states",

abstract = "Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000–2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90\% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000–2010 to 2011–2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250\%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (>40\%) than in California (\textasciitilde{}8\%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans.",

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AU - Rad, Arash Modaresi

AU - Abatzoglou, John T.

AU - Fleishman, Erica

AU - Mockrin, Miranda H.

AU - Radeloff, Volker C.

AU - Pourmohamad, Yavar

AU - Cattau, Megan

AU - Johnson, J. Michael

AU - Higuera, Philip

AU - Nauslar, Nicholas J.

AU - Sadegh, Mojtaba

PY - 2023/9/22

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AB - Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000–2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000–2010 to 2011–2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (>40%) than in California (~8%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans.

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KW - Vulnerable Populations

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Social vulnerability of the people exposed to wildfires in U.S. West Coast states

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Keywords

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