Ager et al 2017.zip

Abstract

We characterized wildfire transmission and exposure within a matrix of large land tenures (federal, state, and private) surrounding 56 communities within a 3.3 million ha fire prone region of central Oregon US. Wildfire simulation and network analysis were used to quantify the exchange of fire among land tenures and communities and analyze the relative contributions of human versus natural ignitions to wildfire exposure. Community firesheds, the area where ignitions can spawn fires that can burn into the wildland urban interface, were also quantified. The results provide a first multi-scale characterization of wildfire networks within a large, mixed tenure and fire prone landscape, and illustrate the connectivity of risk between communities and the surrounding wildlands