being affected, as well as Asian-American neighbor-
hoods in southern coastal areas and Hispanics in
the Klamath and Sierra Nevada regions of California.
This has implications for public messaging and
approaches being used to communicate risks effec-
tively with diverse residents and communities.
A study in Paradise and Ventura, California,
found that almost 25% of the areas affected
by urban fires were outside of areas classified
as WUI and resulted in the loss of many multi-
family apartment complexes, department stores,
and other large commercial buildings. The costs
associated with these events was such that that
several insurance companies are no longer pro-
viding coverage to homes in areas of risk.
Wildfires in the WUI versus
urban fires in communities
There is plenty of information, experience, and
knowledge on reducing or 'mitigating' wildfire
hazard in rural and suburban communities. Most
of this information is based on forest and fire
science collected over several decades and is rele-
vant for individual or groups of structures located
next to, or near, "natural vegetation"—the WUI
landscape. Conversely, urban fires are affecting
highly populated, densely built neighborhoods
with multiple property owners and highly diverse
vegetation and building types. Here trees, shrubs,
and ground covers are non-native, irrigated, and
densely planted, and as a result more complex
in terms of fire and mitigation practices. >>
Figure 1. Statistical increase in the number of fire events affecting California
urban areas during 2010 to 2020 (Source: Yadav et al. 2023).
ucfsociety.org 23
