Protect Thy Neighbor: Investigating the Spatial Externalities of Wildfire Hazard Mitigation

Published

August 1, 2008

Author(s)

David T. Butry, Geoffrey Donovan

Abstract

Climate change, increased wildland fuels, and residential development patterns in fire-prone areas have combined to make wildfire-risk mitigation an important public policy issue. One approach to wildfire-risk mitigation is to encourage homeowners to use fire-resistant building materials and to create defensible spaces around their homes. We develop a theoretical model of interdependent household wildfire risk and examine its implications for a hypothetical fire-prone community. Results indicate that homeowners wildfire risk reduction actions can have significant, positive spillover effects on the wildfire risk of neighboring houses. In such cases, individual homeowners will engage in inefficient levels of wildfire-risk mitigation. We also demonstrate that wildfire risk reduction is most effective when concentrated in houses at the interface of communities and wildlands.

Citation

Forest Science

Volume

54

Issue

4

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

firewise, mitigation, risk, spatial externalities, wildfire, wildland-urban interface, WUI

Citation

Butry, D. and Donovan, G. (2008), Protect Thy Neighbor: Investigating the Spatial Externalities of Wildfire Hazard Mitigation, Forest Science (Accessed May 17, 2025)