Wildfires

Matthew Ajib
Mr. Rochester
Braden River High School
EGP 3/ P6
Thursday, September 7, 2023
Wildfires are nature's wild, burning conflict destructively paving the way of life's renewal. While
many see Wildfires as a cause to many world problems, Wildfires severely affect economy,
housing, and environment. Wildfires are vitally important because this topic elaborates on how
wildfire affects housing, economics, and environment and ways we can attempt to avoid and be
prepared for wildfires. most wildfires are caused by human activities, including unattended
campfires, discarded cigarettes, arson and more. While wildfires may initially appear as purely
destructive forces, their impact expands far beyond the immediate damage to the
environment.
Previous research on the effect of wildfires on house prices finds a negative initial impact on
house prices. “In 2018 more than 58,000 fires burned nine million acres across the U.S. More
than 25,000 structures were destroyed, including 18,137 residences and 229 commercial
structures (Wildland Fire Mitigation)”. Wildfires can cost millions of dollars in firefighting and
property damage, impact jobs, and tourism. Damage to property and local infrastructure may
lead to temporary business disruptions due to power outages, road closures, and direct damage
to buildings and other business infrastructure, which can affect business sales, employment,
and wages. Wildfires can simulate sectors like construction during rebuilding. This shows both
the negative and positive economic impacts of wildfires, demonstrating their role in the
economy. Businesses could be wiped out, which could lead to job losses and cause insurance to
skyrocket overall, which severely affects our economy. Wildfires damage homes, causing
housing shortages and price increases, but also simulate the construction industry.

Wildfires can dramatically impact housing by destroying homes, leading to shortages and higher
prices, while also boosting the Contruction sector. In 2018 alone the damage to both
commercial and residential property totaled almost $19 billion (about $58 per person in the
US). “California accounted for the highest number of structures lost in one state due to the
number of significant fires, including the Mendocino Complex, Carr, Camp and Woolsey fires
(Wildland Fire Mitigation).” This illustrates Wildfires can not only be harmful but can be
devastating to society because the people with burned shelter will not be able to go home like
a normal day. Wildfires can obliterate homes, leaving families without a place to live. This
housing crisis can ripple through local communities, causing a surge in rental prices and putting
a strain on available resources like food and water. The wildfires burning housing can expose
bad air to the environment and could affect our ecosystem.
Wildfires have a significant impact on the environment, causing destruction to ecosystems, loss
of wildlife habitats, and contributing to air pollution through the release of smoke and harmful
pollutants. Wildfires affect all biomes, from forests and savannahs to grasslands and tundra.
Globally, over 370 million hectares of land burn every year, releasing over 1.8 billion tons of
greenhouse gases (As Wildfires Increase, Integrated Strategies for Forests, Climate and
Sustainability Are Ever More Urgent). For instance, this Is caused by all the smoke being emitted
into the atmosphere which pollutes our atmosphere and affects our climate and well-being.
The environmental impact of wildfires can devastate an entire ecosystem, destroying habitats
and endangering wildlife. Wildfires in forests account for 5 per cent of land burned but
contribute to more than 80 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions. They can also release tins
of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change. The ash and
smoke from wildfires can severely affect air quality which could be a major health issue like
respiratory problems.
Wildfires impact on economy, housing, and environment needs better emergency services and
awareness. While many see Wildfires as a cause to many world problems, Wildfires severely
affect economy, housing, and environment. After examining the effects of wildfires on the
economy and housing, their impact on the environment is just as bad. They disrupt ecosystems,
destroy wildlife habitats, and contribute to air pollution. Until wildfires have advanced
emergency services, they will continue to affect economy, housing, and environment of
modern society.
 Work cited page

Wildfire | NFPA. www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-

risks/Wildfire#:~:text=In%202018%20more%20than%2058%2C000,of%20significant%20fires
%2C%20including%20the.
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United Nations. “As Wildfires Increase, Integrated Strategies for Forests, Climate and
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0#:~:text=Globally%2C%20over%20370%20million%20hectares,of%20the%20greenhouse%20
gas%20emissions.

Impact – FUEGO. Fuego.ssl.berkeley.edu/impact.

“Managing Fire | US Forest Service.” US Forest Service, www.fs.usda.gov/science-

technology/fire.