Wildfire Risk to Communities: Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Zones for the United States

This data publication includes Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Zone rasters, products delivered as part of the Wildfire Risk to Communities project. There are two types of data included: 1) raster spatial data that delineate Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Zones for all populated areas in the continental United States (CONUS), Alaska, and Hawaii; and 2) tabular summaries by communities, counties, tribal areas, and states of wildfire hazard and risk produced as part of the Wildfire Risk to Communities (WRC) project. The Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Zones (CWiRRZ) product is a 30-m raster delineating areas where mitigation activities will be most effective at protecting homes from most types of wildfire. The zones are determined by the spatial coincidence of wildfire likelihood (Burn Probability), and populated areas. There are four Risk Reduction Zones: Minimal Exposure Zone, Indirect Exposure Zone, Direct Exposure Zone, and Wildfire Transmission Zone. However, the CWiRRZ raster can be further deconstructed into ten zones, wherein the Wildfire Transmission Zone is separated into the following surface fuel types: Tree, Shrub, Grass, Agriculture, Non-Vegetated, Water, and Outlying Wildlands (area beyond 2400-m from buildings).
The geospatial data products described and distributed here are part of the Wildfire Risk to Communities project. This project was directed by Congress in the 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act (i.e., 2018 Omnibus Act, H.R. 1625, Section 210: Wildfire Hazard Severity Mapping) to help U.S. communities understand components of their relative wildfire risk profile, the nature and effects of wildfire risk, and actions communities can take to mitigate risk. These data serve two purposes: 1) provide nationally-consistent spatial data that could be used to summarize hazard and risk to populated areas and take into consideration areas with housing units as well as adjacent areas with wildland fuels; and 2) provide communities with a way to spatially identify where different types of risk mitigation activities are likely to be most effective.
See the Wildfire Risk to Communities (WRC) website at https://www.wildfirerisk.org for complete project information and an interactive web application for exploring some of the data published here. These data are considered part of WCR 2.0 which also includes: 1) Scott et al. (2024) containing data regarding wildfire risk across all lands, and 2) Jaffe et al. (2024) containing wildfire risk across lands where only housing units current exist.