Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Open Access Master's Report

Degree Name

Master of Science in Sustainable Communities (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Social Sciences

Advisor 1

Kari Henquinet

Advisor 2

Chelsea Schelly

Committee Member 1

Richelle Winkler

Abstract

Communities across the US are facing increased wildfire risks due in part to historic fire suppression efforts, a warming climate, and an influx of people residing in wildland urban interface (WUI) landscapes. Because of these increasing risks, there have been growing concerns about the social factors that can increase individual and community vulnerability to wildfires. This research adds to the discussion of social vulnerability by examining how people living in a geographic area with heightened wildfire risk think about the ways in which people can be more or less vulnerable to wildfires. Using semi-structured interviews, round table discussions, and field notes, our research team found that various social dimensions contribute to vulnerability, including: living stress (how much time, money, and support a person might have in meeting daily needs), housing type, physical residential location and related infrastructure, age, community-level planning and resources, social norms, insurance, and ways in which wildfires threaten people’s ability to meet livelihoods.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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