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Wildfires and home prices: Are they related?
August 31, 2005Do wildfires influence the housing market? Is it a consideration when people buy or build?
Geoffrey Donovan, an economist at the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, Ore., and his colleagues collaborated with the Colorado Springs Fire Department in Colorado to answer these questions.
The fire department developed a computer model to rate the wildfire risk of 35,000 parcels in the city's wildland-urban interface. Each parcel was given a fire risk rating: low, medium, high, very high, or extreme. The information was posted in 2002 on a fire department Web site accessible to homeowners who wanted to determine the risk rating of their home and learn how to reduce fire risk.
"We found that before the wildfire risk ratings were made available," says Donovan, "houses at higher risk from wildfire had higher sales prices than similar houses with a lower wildfire risk. This result seemed counterintuitive, until we considered that factors that increase a home's wildfire risk, such as being located on a ridge, can also have desirable effects such as better views.
"However," he continues, "after the wildfire risk ratings were released, we no longer observed a relationship between wildfire risk and housing prices. This was largely due to a change in tastes for flammable building materials.
"For example, before wildfire risk ratings were released, a wood roof added nearly $12,000 to the home price, whereas after wildfire risk ratings were made available, houses with wood roofs sold for $5,000 less than houses with less flammable roofs. It appears that the Fire Department's program successfully changed homeowner's attitudes concerning wildfire risk."
Wildfires continue to destroy homes as more and more people live closer to wildland areas. Nationally, wildfires destroyed an average of 2,500 homes in 2002-2003; up from an average of 900 burned between 1985 and 1994.
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research St
"We found that before the wildfire risk ratings were made available," says Donovan, "houses at higher risk from wildfire had higher sales prices than similar houses with a lower wildfire risk. This result seemed counterintuitive, until we considered that factors that increase a home's wildfire risk, such as being located on a ridge, can also have desirable effects such as better views.
"However," he continues, "after the wildfire risk ratings were released, we no longer observed a relationship between wildfire risk and housing prices. This was largely due to a change in tastes for flammable building materials.
"For example, before wildfire risk ratings were released, a wood roof added nearly $12,000 to the home price, whereas after wildfire risk ratings were made available, houses with wood roofs sold for $5,000 less than houses with less flammable roofs. It appears that the Fire Department's program successfully changed homeowner's attitudes concerning wildfire risk."
Wildfires continue to destroy homes as more and more people live closer to wildland areas. Nationally, wildfires destroyed an average of 2,500 homes in 2002-2003; up from an average of 900 burned between 1985 and 1994.
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research St
Wildfires Current Events and Wildfires News RSSTrees facilitate wildfires as a way to protect their habitat
Fire is often thought of something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors.
IOM report released on species-jumping diseases
Significant weaknesses undermine the global community's abilities to prevent, detect early, and respond efficiently to potentially deadly species-crossing microbes, such as the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus sweeping the globe, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.
Forest ecologist sees climate consequences
Many people worry about the link between rising bark-beetle infestations and an increase in western wildfires. But Dr. Susan Prichard, a Research Scientist at the University of Washington, adds another concern: what happens after the fires go out?
Plastic surgeons should be part of disaster relief planning, response
When a terrorist bomb explodes, a tornado rips through a town, a hurricane devastates a region, or wildfires ravage homes and businesses, plastic surgeons are not typically atop the list of emergency responders.
UA scientists seek new emphases in Arctic climate change research
Much of circumpolar Arctic research focuses on the physical, direct changes resulting from climate warming such as sea ice retreat and temperature increases.
Large Trees Declining in Yosemite
Large trees have declined in Yosemite National Park during the 20th century, and warmer climate conditions may play a role.
Wildfires set to increase 50% by 2050
The area of forest burnt by wildfires in the United States is set to increase by over 50% by 2050, according to research by climate scientists.
Scientists expect wildfires to increase as climate warms in the coming decades
As the climate warms in the coming decades, atmospheric scientists at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and their colleagues expect that the frequency of wildfires will increase in many regions.
Tiny diamonds on Santa Rosa Island give evidence of cosmic impact
Nanosized diamonds found just a few meters below the surface of Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Santa Barbara provide strong evidence of a cosmic impact event in North America approximately 12,900 years ago.
Forest fire prevention efforts will lessen carbon sequestration, add to greenhouse warming
Widely sought efforts to reduce fuels that increase catastrophic fire in Pacific Northwest forests will be counterproductive to another important societal goal of sequestering carbon to help offset global warming.
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