Pacific Southwest

Title: Fire Risk and Residential Development: A GIS Analysis

Author: Rechel, Jennifer L.; Davis, James B.; Bradshaw, Ted K.

Date: 1992

Source: In: Chavez, Deborah J., technical coordinator. 1992. Proceedings of the Symposium on Social Aspects and Recreation Research, February 19-22, 1992, Ontario, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-132. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 18-20

Station ID: GTR-PSW-132

Description: Population growth is rapid in rural areas in California. This growth into the wildland-urban interface makes fire protection and suppression more difficult. Fire managers have opportunities to reduce fire danger by improving housing development patterns; however, the overall density and placement of houses is usually set by criteria other than fire danger. By identifying and mapping historical and current housing development patterns, managers can begin to examine difficulties of fire protection, such as road access and crew response time, and to identify fire hazard zones. Proposed development pat-terns can then be examined for potential fire risks, and recommendations made based on these estimated risks. The effects of various factors assumed to correlate with rapid residential construction in Nevada County, California, were described. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methods were used to analyze overall housing location patterns and to determine improved methods to reduce fire risks in the wildland-urban interface. Preliminary results indicate that populations are densest in chaparral vegetation types with very high and moderate fire risk.

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Citation

Rechel, Jennifer L.; Davis, James B.; Bradshaw, Ted K.  1992.  Fire Risk and Residential Development: A GIS Analysis.   In: Chavez, Deborah J., technical coordinator. 1992. Proceedings of the Symposium on Social Aspects and Recreation Research, February 19-22, 1992, Ontario, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-132. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 18-20.