PNW 5C FFS Wildland-Urban Interface Risk Approaches

This project aims to develop and deliver a database of wildfire-affected building footprints, classified by building type, attributed with structure separation distance (SSD), construction materials, and uncertainty categorized for this data. The database will cover significant spatiotemporal extents (e.g., 2010 to 2022 in the U.S.) and include unique information from the National Fire Incident Reporting Systems and other databases. High-resolution (e.g., 1 meter) pre-fire and post-fire-affected vegetation datasets will be derived at select fires. We will use this data to assess the uncertainty in correlation studies. We will focus on examining relationships between pre-fire and fire-affected vegetation, relationships between defensive actions and property treatments (e.g., defensible space), and how conclusions of correlation studies change when using new data derived through this project. Project data will support examining current WUI definitions when considering SSD and fine-scale vegetation. Additionally, we will evaluate WUI fire behavior models. These efforts will facilitate examining and enhancing current parcel and building-scale risk assessment approaches.