As an academic modeling and poster project, I used ArcMap’s Model Builder to assess the risk of fire to homes at both the parcel- and structural-level. To function, the model requires four geospatial inputs: (1) home and structural assets shapefile; (2) parcel shapefile; (3) fire district (or other jurisdiction boundaries) shapefile; and, (4) fire threat raster file (e.g., slope or canopy coverage).
In assessing risk at the structural-level, the model evaluates the defensible space of a home on the basis of canopy coverage within 30′ to 100′ from the home (defensible space, zone 2). This risk does not account for treatment of the understory; however, where the defensible space zone has a high risk value, homeowners should insure that the land is being managed to reduce that risk. Point files were used in the creation of this poster, thought I later created a fire district-wide structural polygon file using Google Earth. As designed, a polygon-shapefile that portrays the exterior extent of a structure should be input for the most accurate assessment of zone 2 hazard threats.
Parcel-levelrisk is assessed on the basis of the average slope of each parcel. The risk posed by slope is not necessarily borne by the structure on a parcel. Because hill slope creates higher risk of fire on structures located to the upside, neighboring parcels may suffer the greater risk of a neighbor’s sloped parcel. Also note that where rural parcels are very large, the actual risk to a particular structure may be more or less significant than shown by the output modeled here. This particular shortcoming could be addressed through interpolation methods in ArcMap.
In 2015, the Humboldt County Fire Safe Council requested assistance from the Humboldt State University Environmental Management and Protection Program Planning Practicum with a Firewise mapping project and with community organizing…
Poster Presentation
Intermediate GIS, Final Poster Project, Workflow Development (2014)
In 2015, the Humboldt County Fire Safe Council requested assistance from the Humboldt State University Environmental Management and Protection Program Planning…
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