Wildfire risk is soaring for low-income, elderly and other vulnerable populations in California, Washington and Oregon

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University and John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced

(THE CONVERSATION) As wildfires burn across the Western U.S., the people in harm’s way are increasingly those least able to protect their homes from fire risks, evacuate safely or recover after a fire.

In a new study, we and a team of fellow wildfirescientists examined who lived within the perimeters of wildfires over the past two decades in Washington, Oregon and California – home to about 90% of Americans in the U.S. West exposed to wildfires over that period.

Overall, nearly half a million people in California, Oregon and Washington were exposed to wildfires at some point during the past 22 years. Alarmingly, about half the people exposed to wildfires in Washington and Oregon were considered socially vulnerable.

While the number of people exposed to fire rose overall, the number of socially vulnerable people exposed more than tripled between the first and second decades.

How social vulnerability affects fire risk

A variety...