Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States

Highly destructive wildfires are occurring more frequently across the globe, prompting debates over the causes for this increase and effective management responses. We investigated building destruction trends in the United States by mapping buildings that were exposed to and destroyed by wildfires over two decades. The proportion of exposed buildings that were destroyed more than tripled from 2002–2022, indicating that wildfires became more destructive in addition to burning more populated areas. This increase in destruction rate was linked to greater building exposure in forests, but destruction rates also increased in grass and shrublands and were influenced by weather, development type, and burn severity. Our findings suggest that diverse management approaches may be needed to reduce community vulnerability to wildfire disasters.