Proximity to Wildland

Each of the 9 major flags tells part of the story of the wildfire risk.

While the vast majority of wildfires are caused by human activity, the fires themselves usually start the uninhabited part of the wildland-urban interface (WUI). While some wildfires are caused by lighting, more common ignition events are sparks from equipment, campfires and smokers in park areas, electrical transmission lines in wooded areas and children playing with matches.

Athena’s Voice of the Acre® has been optimized for insured or economic losses, so risk associated with proximity to WUI includes distance, the type and quantity of vegetation and the way the uninhabited and inhabited areas coming to contact.

One of the key variables in the wildfire data is the Inhabited WUI categorization as Intermix or Interface. This is where houses and wild land vegetation meet or mingle. Intermix properties have a higher risk associated.

A discussion of the quantification of the higher risk can be found here.

Athena Intelligence refines the earth’s essential data to make it easy for enterprises to use environmental information for future contracts, proprietary business decisions and risk management.