The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets

Although fire managers, policymakers, and communities are benefiting from better understanding of suppression costs, property losses, and community impacts of large fires,4 no generalizable empirical research has quantified the specific effect of large wildfires on local employment and wages. As federal spending on wildfire suppression in the United States continues to grow,5 an understanding of the effects of wildfires on local economies will help natural resource managers, policymakers, and communities better anticipate and make management and policy decisions that support local economies. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the effect of large wildfires on local employment and wages in the western United States and investigate how those changes varied between different types of counties and different levels of suppression spending.