Accounting for spatial spillover benefits in neighborhood wildfire risk mitigation

Interest and funding for wildfire risk mitigation to protect people and property are more prominent than ever. Climate change, urbanization, and expanded human activity have increased the risk of wildfire and make it critical that sound strategies are identified to help neighborhoods better coexist with fire and other natural di-sasters. This paper investigates modeling approaches for identifying the best scenarios to reduce wildfire risk, taking into account spatial spillover benefits. Analysis is undertaken for a study area of predominantly wildland-urban interface residential properties in Santa Barbara, California. Risk reduction is quantified and spatial patterns of mitigation activities are explicitly identified. The incorporation of spillover benefits is demonstrated to offer greater overall risk reduction for a community, suggesting that spatial interaction among activities must be explicitly accounted for in mitigation efforts.