November 20th, 2024 from 11am to 12pm AKST
AFSC webinar presented by Jen Schmidt, Associate Professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER).
We present a method to assess wildfire risk to structures based on the wildfire exposure method developed for Alaska. This risk approach uses common spatial datasets gathered by communities and emphasizes that buildings are fuel. Similar to the wildfire exposure approach, the risk assessment process developed is straightforward, easy to understand, and makes fewer assumptions than other wildfire risk assessment approaches. Our study areas include the Municipality of Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, and Kenai Peninsula Borough. In conjunction, we also developed a powerline risk assessment, but much of the details that might inform vulnerability calculations for electrical power transmission and distribution are proprietary and not widely available. Considering this limitation, our risk assessment provides a basic distribution of vulnerability ratings and highlights the most significant concerns for power disruption from wildfires.
