Mockrin et al.: A Tale of Two Fires - Housing Recovery after Disaster

In A Tale of Two Fires: Retreat and Rebound a Decade After Wildfires in California and South Carolina, Miranda H. Mockrin (USDA Forest Service, Maryland), Hillary K. Fishler (Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho), H. Anu Kramer (Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Wisconsin), Volker C. Radeloff (Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Wisconsin), and Susan I. Steward (Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Wisconsin) examine housing recovery a decade after two destructive fires in 2009, using two case studies: the Highway 31 Fire in suburban North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Station Fire in exurban parts of Los Angeles County, California.

This study has two goals: (1) use government records to document critical aspects of housing recovery such as rebuilding rates, identity of those rebuilding, and housing attributes, and (2) determine the community-level perspectives on why rebuilding outcomes emerged. This is the first study to utilize parcel data to study post-wildfire housing recovery in detail. The authors interviewed community leaders active in recovery and mitigation, county and city staff, and land managers, and reviewed government and online real estate records.

In South Carolina (the Highway 31 Fire), 88 percent of homes were rebuilt within two years, and 74 percent were rebuilt by the original owners at the time of the fire. Ten years later, 56 percent of all homes lost in the original fire were still owned by those who originally lost them. In Los Angeles County (the Station Fire), only 11.7 percent of parcels were rebuilt, and ten years later, only three were owned by the original owners.

More context about the two case studies provides possible explanations for these differences. In South Carolina, the houses were in a more urban environment. The rapid recovery there can be attributed to things like an HOA that required each home to be rebuilt and city supports, such as a mobile permitting office and waived fees to aid in clearing lots and rebuilding homes.

In the impacted areas of Los Angeles County, the homes were more recreational and adjacent to public land. A majority of the pre-fire foundations and public works access points were not up to code, as most of the properties were built before those building requirements. Rebuilding, however, would require new improvements to meet these codes in this context. A majority of the parcels of land that were not rebuilt after this California fire were sold as empty lots, reflecting wider trends of nonprofit efforts to lead post-disaster buyouts in the name of land conservation.

The authors suggest further research along these lines is needed as the world faces increasing wildfire and other disaster-related losses.