Housing arrangement and vegetation factors associated with single-family home survival in the 2018 Camp Fire, California
Authors: Eric E. Knapp, Yana S. Valachovic, Stephen L. Quarles & Nels G. Johnson
Recent research published in Fire Ecology found that the distance from burning structures, age of the home, reduced tree cover, and eliminating nearby combustible items likely helped houses survive during the 2018 Camp Fire.
"Despite the unpredictable nature of wildfire, strong associations with home arrangement and overstory vegetation cover indicate home survival is at least somewhat predictable," said lead author Eric Knapp of the USDA Forest Service. "The silver lining is that this also suggests steps can be taken to substantially improve the odds of homes surviving a wildfire."
Hear more from the authors by reading the blog post from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or read the full article on Fire Ecology journal website.
