Changing large wildfire dynamics in the wildland–urban interface of the eastern United States

Noah C. Weidig; Carissa L. Wonkka; Michaella A. Ivey; Victoria M. Donovan

doi:10.1071/WF24110

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 33(12)

Changing large wildfire dynamics in the wildland–urban interface of the eastern United States

Noah C. Weidig

^A ^* , Carissa L. Wonkka ^A , Michaella A. Ivey ^A and Victoria M. Donovan ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, West Florida Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA.

^* Correspondence to: noah.weidig@ufl.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF24110 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF24110

Submitted: 28 June 2024 Accepted: 21 October 2024 Published: 22 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)

Abstract

Background

The recent increase in large wildfires in the eastern United States makes it crucial to examine the subsequent risk to human life and property. In the eastern US, the wildland–urban interface (WUI), where wildfire risk is greatest, has expanded tremendously over the last three decades.

Aims

This study aimed to understand how increasing wildfires in the eastern US are manifesting in the WUI.

Methods

We quantified WUI growth and characterised large (>200 ha) wildfire regimes inside and outside the WUI at multiple spatial scales across the eastern US between 1986 and 2021.

Key results

WUI wildfires in the eastern US comprised 45% of all large wildfires and 55% of the area burned, were on average 46% larger than non-WUI wildfires, and are becoming more frequent in spring. Most increases in wildfire number and area burned occurred outside of the WUI.

Conclusion

The WUI plays an important role in large wildfire dynamics in the eastern US; however, increases in the number of large wildfires have occurred primarily outside the WUI.

Implications

Our findings highlight important interactions between human development and large wildfire occurrence in the eastern US and should be used to direct future region-specific assessments of changing wildfire risk.

Keywords: development, exposure, fire regime, housing growth, risk, sprawl, urbanisation, wildland fire, wildland–urban interface.

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