Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Landscape Scale Influences Of Forest Area And Housing Density On House Loss In The 2009 Victorian Bushfires, Owen Price, Ross Bradstock

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Previous investigations into the factors associated with house loss in wildfires have focused on the house construction and its immediate environment (e.g. gardens). Here, we examine how nearby native forest and other houses can influence house loss. Specifically, we used a sample of 3500 houses affected by the Victorian bushfires of February 7th 2009 to explore how the amount of forest, proportion of forest burned by crown fire and the number of nearby houses affected house loss and how far from the house this influence was exerted. These fires were the most destructive in Australian history and so represent the …