As wildfires intensify, the taxpayer burden is growing » Yale Climate Connections

Fighting wildfires is expensive, and the cost is growing as global warming causes bigger, hotter blazes.

Hanna: “The lion’s share of those large, megafires are handled by the federal government, and we have significant taxpayer dollars being spent.”

Autumn Hanna is with the nonpartisan budget watchdog organization, Taxpayers for Common Sense.

She says billions of tax dollars are spent on wildfires each year. That includes the cost of fighting the fires and helping communities recover afterward.

Hanna says the government could reduce that taxpayer burden by investing more money in projects that help protect communities before a fire starts.

For example, planned fires called prescribed burns can help reduce the intensity of future blazes. Thinning tree and brush cover close to homes and building with fire-resistant materials can help protect people’s property.

Hanna: “So this is what we need to do to harden and create the resilient communities that can then be protected when there are fires, and we can avoid the megafires and the emergencies where the only option at that point is suppression, which is the most costly.”

So investments to reduce the risk of huge, intense fires can help keep communities safe and save taxpayers money.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media

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