Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue
Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue
02 July 2015
published by http://headwaterseconomics.org
USA– Wildfires increasingly are threatening urban areasoften repeatedlyputting more homes, lives, infrastructure, and other resources at risk.
- More than 15,000 wildfires burned in the continental United States from 2000 to 2013.
- During these years, 127 urban areas (cities with more than 75,000 residents) were threatened by major wildfires (fires greater than 5 square miles in area) that burned within 10 miles of the city.
- In many cases, urban areas have been threatened repeatedly by major wildfires events.
- Cities in the West are particularly vulnerable to wildfire because the West contains conditions conducive to wildfire such as extensive and remote forest areas and frequent drought conditions.