California Wildfires
While a wildfire is not discriminatory and doesn’t choose its victims, socio-economic factors can influence if one is more prone to experience wildfires and recover once they are hit by such a tragic phenomenon. Our project aims to investigate if there is a correlation between if individuals in poverty are more prone to encounter wildfires.
Question 1
Do counties with varying SVI Variables experience higher risk and recovery from wildfires?
Question 2
How does drought severity impact the spread of wildfires in California?
About Project
While a wildfire is not discriminatory and doesn’t choose its victims, socio-economic factors can influence if one is more prone to experience wildfires and recover once they are hit by such a tragic phenomenon. Our project aims to investigate if there is a correlation between if individuals in poverty are more prone to encounter wildfires. Moreover, we inquire if counties with relatively higher housing/transportation vulnerability experience higher acres burned due to timely setbacks when it comes to evacuations and firefighter response time. For example, when the Camp Fire reached Paradise, CA there were limited roads to drive out of the town, five total roads and three major roads, which caused traffic. Many had to abandon their cars, and “in a matter of hours, the town’s roads were swamped, its emergency plans outstripped. Nine of every 10 homes were destroyed and at least 85 people were dead. Many were elderly, some were incinerated in their cars while trying to flee and others apparently never made it that far” (Mooallem). Due to the town’s limitations in infrastructure, this left residents to have limited transportation options for evacuation. Such vulnerability factors can lead us to predict how well individuals and communities can respond and adapt to wildfires. This includes possible lack of credit, insurance, and accessibility to resources causing disadvantaged groups to be displaced. We can thus form actionable insights on climate agendas and the necessity of acknowledging these vulnerabilities when assessing wildfire risk. We use California Wildfire data from the Fire and Resource Assessment Program of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, National Interagency Fire Center, and the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System. We also use California Historical Drought data from the National Integrated Drought Information System, and California Social Vulnerability data from the US Census. We will use these datasets to examine the spread of wildfires across California and whether drought severity increases the likelihood of wildfires. We would also like to examine whether socially vulnerable communities live in drought-prone areas and if they are at risk of wildfires occurring in their area.
Significance
The literature focuses on the disproportionate effects of wildfires on communities with different socioeconomic factors in California. There is general agreement that low-income communities and certain racial and ethnic groups are highly vulnerable to wildfires due to limited access to transportation, adaptive capacity, distance to fire, housing infrastructure, and other factors. Gabbe explains that certain housing types, specifically subsidized households, are located in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) with high wildfire risk rates. Hennighausen’s research explains how housing affordability and the difficulty of moving due to higher housing prices in lower-risk areas contribute to increased wildfire vulnerability. Furthermore, we can see that communities that have recently experienced a natural disaster have a higher probability of poor mental and physical health. Hahn argues that individuals with a lower socioeconomic status may have a more difficult time recovering from a natural disaster which may lead to financial strains that may make it difficult to focus on their physical and mental health. Further research on this topic could be done on how air quality affects low-income communities in the aftermath of a wildfire. Some communities may lack resources such as air filtration systems and healthcare access such as respiratory conditions and injuries that may have occurred post-fire. After wildfires, insurance coverage becomes an important course for recovering lost homes and belongings. However, a question that remains unanswered is how the government and insurance policies may disproportionately benefit certain communities. Lastly, in “Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity,” the authors primarily focus on how climate change has played a role in influencing the frequencies of wildfire in the United States. They articulate that since the mid-1980s, the length of wildfire seasons has seen an increase of 78 days when comparing the periods of 1970 – 1986 to 1987 – 2003. With an increase in temperature leading to higher evaporation rates and dryer surfaces, it is safe to argue that an increase in temperature has led to more intensive drought conditions that can often lead to a chance of wildfires.
Data Sources
This project is critical because it addresses gaps in understanding how intersecting social vulnerabilities amplify wildfire risks and recovery challenges in California. While existing literature acknowledges disparities in wildfire impacts—such as renters’ heightened displacement risks, compounded health burdens in low-income communities, and the role of climate change in exacerbating fire seasons—few studies systematically analyze how specific Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) themes, like housing and transportation, correlate with wildfire outcomes. By integrating California’s wildfire perimeter data, historical drought metrics, and SVI census tract-level data, our research uniquely maps how socioeconomic inequities—such as limited evacuation resources and unstable housing—compound disaster vulnerability. For instance, our analysis of transportation vulnerability (SVI Theme 4) could reveal whether delayed evacuations in underserved counties lead to larger burned areas, a connection underexplored in current scholarship. Furthermore, while datasets like the SVI omit unhoused populations and certain ethnic groups, our work highlights these systemic data gaps, urging policymakers to expand data inclusivity. Ultimately, this project aims to shift disaster preparedness frameworks from broad risk mitigation to targeted interventions that address structural inequities. By answering how social vulnerability predicts wildfire impacts, we seek to empower policymakers, public health officials, and community advocates to prioritize resource allocation, housing reforms, and climate adaptation strategies that break the cycle of risk and resilience for marginalized Californians.