Wildfire disasters are unique among natural hazards in that humans have a complex evolutionary and contemporary relationship with fire. As such, addressing this hazard requires a more nuanced approach to understanding vulnerability to wildfire across socio-ecological systems and identifying mitigation strategies. From 1980 to 2018, nearly 4,000 people died in wildfires globally, and economically disastrous wildfire events increased non-linearly due to both the top-down driver of climate change and the bottom-up drivers of land use and sociopolitical factors. Further, many wildfires have disastrous consequences beyond loss of life and property but are difficult to empirically track due to the more chronic or distributed nature of the impacts. I apply a widely-used natural hazards vulnerability framework to wildfire and demonstrate its application across spatial scales globally in order to highlight both different types of wildfire disasters and the factors that must be accounted for in developing mitigation strategies. Such an approach provides insight into both the futility of the historical ‘command-and-control’ management of wildfires and the need for transdisciplinary efforts to reduce wildfire vulnerability.

This seminar is part of the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab 2018-2019 Seminar Series.