Wildfire risk and home purchase decisions.

Abstract

In the last 20 years, wildfire damages and the costs of wildfire suppression have risen dramatically. This trend has been attributed to three main factors: climate change, increased fuel loads from a century of wildfire suppression, and increased housing development in fire-prone areas., There is little that fire managers can do about climate change, and current fuel management budgets struggle to keep pace with fuel accumulation, let alone correct it. Thus, if wildfire costs and damages are to be controlled, efforts need to focus on mitigating wildfire risk near housing developments in fire-prone areas. However, little is known about how and whether home buyers consider wildfire risk when they are purchasing a home in a fire-prone area.

Citation

Champ, Patricia; Donovan, Geoffrey; Barth, Christopher. 2008. Wildfire risk and home purchase decisions. Rural connections. 2(3): 5-6.