Social and Community Impacts of Fire

Strong scientific evidence shows that climate change is producing hotter, drier conditions that contribute to larger fires and longer fire seasons in the American West today. The annual number of large wildfires on federally managed lands in the 11 western states has increased by more than 75 percent: from approximately 140 during the period 1980–1989 to 250 in the 2000–2009 period.

This article reviews social science research on Indigenous wildfire management in Australia, Canada and the United States after the year 2000 and explores future research needs in the field.

Recent years have seen growing interest within the United States fire management community in exploring alternatives to the standard approach of evacuating entire populations that are threatened by a wildfire.

There is a growing professional and public perception that ‘extreme’ wildland fires are becoming more common due to changing climatic conditions. This concern is heightened in the wildland–urban interface where social and ecological effects converge.

Fire has historically played a fundamental ecological role in many of America’s wildland areas.

Encouraging the public to take action (e.g., creating defensible space) that can reduce the likelihood of wildfire damage and decrease the likelihood of injury is a common approach to increasing wildfire safety and damage mitigation.

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions of wildland fire.

The Waldo Canyon fire presented the first opportunity for partners in the national Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) Coalition to collectively assess the performance of mitigation practices in Colorado Springs in a post-fire environment and to compare the results to the mitigation strategy recommended by the Fire Adapted Communities program.

Public land management agencies have incorporated the concept of vulnerability into protocols for assessing and planning for climate change impacts on public forests and grasslands. However, resource managers and planners have little guidance for how to address the social aspects of vulnerability in these assessments and plans.