Overview
Wildland Fires affect vulnerable populations and contribute to negative health impacts through the flames, smoke, and damage to infrastructure. The primary health effects include impacts to: Cardiovascular Health, Respiratory Health, Mental Health, Direct Fire Related Injury including burns and heat stroke, and increased susceptibility to respiratory diseases including COVID-19. The Wildland Fire Health Risk Index identifies a-priori the health and medical needs of the impacted population.
Western US Wildland Fire Health Risk Index
HSR.health's Wildland Fire (Wildfire) Health Risk Index utilizes social, environmental, economic, and underlying health conditions data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. CDC to identify in advance the health and medical needs of a wildfire-impacted population.
View the Heat Health Risk Index on the AWS MarketplaceBenefits
Informs emergency response personnel, public health officials, governments, economic development, city/civic planners, and global public health organizations the information they need to:
- Take preventative measures before a wildland fire occurs to limit its impact.
- Speed response efforts during a disaster scenario.
- Guide recovery efforts in the aftermath of a fire.
Spatial Coverage
The Wildland Fire Health Risk Index and its underlying datasets have been calculated for the United State and can be made available for any region globally based on the availability of the underlying datasets. This Index is available down to the Census tract administrative level.
Temporal Coverage
2010 – Current. Incorporating historical trend analysis, continuous updates, as well as forecasting across multiple years can be accomplished upon request based on the temporal coverage of the underlying datasets.
Process Description
The Wildland Fire Health Risk Index is calculated through a weighted combination of the health and social characteristics of the impacted population. The Risk Index identifies the populations at higher risk of adverse health outcomes in, and those with chronic conditions that are exacerbated by, a wildfire scenario. With the base data for the US being obtained from the US Census Bureau and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sample output for the Western United States is available on our OpenGeoMD Platform. Additional information about this indicator and the underlying data can be found in our whitepaper.
Data Availability
The dataset is available in multiple formats, partially including:
- CSV
- Geo-JSON
- GeoParquet
- and other user-specified formats.