How much money??
Museum wildfire 2019
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Friends of Confluence West –
We’re looking once more at the true costs of wildfire – on water supply, ecosystems, the community, economy, and public health. The costs are jaw-dropping.
First up is last year’s report Calculating the Full Costs of the 2010 Schultz Wildfire: A Ten-Year Review from the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI), Northern Arizona University. Bottom line: $95.8 million to $100.7 million (for a 15,000-acre wildfire.)
Next month, with our colleague organization HECHO, we’ll look at the impact on Flagstaff’s Latino community after the 2019 Museum wildfire. This disaster resulted in significant costs to the fabric of the community.
Back to the ERI’s analysis of the full accounting of the Schultz Fire: If you haven’t read the report, it’s a good one. Below are some highlights, along with ERI contact information.
For the West,
Kimery
P.S. Why Confluence West? It’s all about the elephant. Learn more www.confluence-west.org and please support our work.
Calculating the Full Costs of the 2010 Schultz Fire: A Ten-Year Review
(As we finalize this newsletter, the Tunnel fire outside of Flagstaff is at 20,000+ acres; zero percent containment. One of many current western wildfires.)
Some context: the 2010 Schultz wildfire outside of Flagstaff burned 15,075 acres. In 2020, Colorado’s East Troublesome fire burned 193,812 acres; the 2021 Caldor fire in the Sierra Nevada burned 221,835 acres.
For the Schultz fire, ERI’s analysis conservatively estimated costs between $95.8 million and $100.7 million (in 2021 dollars.) These costs included loss of life, fire response, post-fire flooding response and mitigation, destruction of spotted owl habitat, cleanup, structural damage, unpaid labor, and insurance.
Interestingly, they found that ten years after the Schultz fire, property values in the region had rebounded 51.5% from 2010; therefore, they excluded residential property values from the 2021 report. Their report notes: “These costs represent some of the more complex and difficult-to-measure of wildfire and post-flooding.”
The largest costs were incurred by government and utility entities of $73.4 million over ten years. Coconino County and the US Forest Service bore the largest expenses.
More information:
Melanie Colavito, PhD
Director of Policy and Communications
Ecological Restoration Institute
Northern Arizona University
o. (928) 523-6651 | c. (520) 250-3002