{"id":773147,"date":"2026-05-11T10:50:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcuser&#038;p=773147"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:50:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:50:57","slug":"gis-protects-the-past-from-wildfire","status":"publish","type":"arcuser","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/gis-protects-the-past-from-wildfire","title":{"rendered":"GIS Protects the Past from Wildfire"},"author":6921,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[493251],"tags":[20422,21902,279122,282802,471971],"arcuser_issues":[493467],"class_list":["post-773147","arcuser","type-arcuser","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gis-at-work","tag-arcgis-pro","tag-archaeology","tag-climate","tag-florida","tag-wildfire","arcuser_issues-spring-2026"],"acf":{"short_description":"Archaeological sites across Florida are at increasing risk of wildfire damage. GIS can help protect them.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"It comes as no surprise that areas like California experience more wildfires by the year, but even wetland-dense places like Florida are vulnerable to increasingly large and\u00a0catastrophic fires.\r\n\r\nMany Florida ecosystems are\u00a0actually wildfire\u00a0dependent. Fire clears out underbrush and prepares soil for germination. However, years of fire suppression have led to excessive growth throughout the state, meaning that fires are more frequent and more damaging than these ecosystems can adapt to. This creates massive clouds of billowing smoke and other environmental hazards when wildfire strikes\u2014often as a direct result of human activity. This risk is compounded by climate-related factors.\r\n\r\nIn 2025, the wildfire likelihood for Florida was high, with an average likelihood that is greater than that of 86 percent of US states. A recent study from First Street Foundation suggests that the risk of wildfire in Florida could double by 2052.\r\n\r\nPlenty of research and resources have been devoted to wildfire risk and vulnerability in Florida. However, little attention has been paid to how these fires affect Florida\u2019s cultural heritage, especially its archaeological sites. Researchers at Lynn University are using a GIS-based approach to address this gap by\u00a0leveraging\u00a0ArcGIS to map and\u00a0analyze\u00a0the areas in the state that are most vulnerable to wildfire, with the aim of preserving Florida\u2019s archaeological sites\u2014and its history.\r\n<h2>From Data to Analysis<\/h2>\r\nTo create the wildfire risk map, researchers first obtained archaeological site data from the Florida Master Site File, the state\u2019s official inventory of historical and cultural resources. This data was queried to limit it to artifact scatters, campsites, midden\/mound sites (prehistoric landfills and other raised earthworks), and some historical relics such as logging chains. Structures like historical buildings would have\u00a0a different set\u00a0of parameters for their preservation during a fire event compared to other archaeological sites. Wildfire data came from Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (a US federal program designed to map fires across the country), and all data was processed and\u00a0analyzed\u00a0in ArcGIS Pro.\r\n\r\nTo\u00a0determine\u00a0the areas at highest risk for large wildfires, a hot spot analysis was completed based on acres burned. Larger fires tend to burn hotter and have the potential for fire to carry along the root structures deeper into the ground.\u00a0Generally,\u00a0site\u00a0damage is correlated with fire duration and intensity. Larger fires could also have indirect effects such as those from suppression efforts and erosion following the fire.\r\n\r\nResearchers then compared archaeological site data with the burned areas and further selected for areas with over 23,000 acres burned and over 10 archaeological sites within the boundaries of the wildfire. These were\u00a0determined\u00a0as the most vulnerable areas for Florida archaeological sites.\r\n\r\nBased on this determination, the risk map combines vulnerability based on hot spot analysis, burn acres, and site density, as well as wildfire susceptibility.\u00a0Susceptibility is based on the US Department of Agriculture\u2019s wildfire hazard potential data, and archaeological sites were narrowed to those with National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) potential. NRHP eligibility is used to focus on those sites that are\u00a0deemed\u00a0to have the most research potential. Sites\u00a0containing\u00a0human remains are also considered among the most vulnerable."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":773149,"image_position":"left","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The risk map revealed that 380 sites\u00a0are located in\u00a0the most wildfire-vulnerable areas. Of these, over 200 are precontact (dating to the period prior to European arrival) and 60 of these are identified as midden\/mound sites. Many of the sites are ineligible for NRHP classification, but many more are NRHP eligible or require preservation.\u00a0Nearly half\u00a0of the sites do not have enough information for evaluation, meaning damage done to these sites might result in catastrophic loss of data. Most importantly, 22 of these vulnerable sites\u00a0contain\u00a0human remains.\r\n<h2>Risk and Return<\/h2>\r\nEven with these areas and sites\u00a0identified, many other factors and\u00a0unknowns\u00a0impact how cultural sites are protected from fire damage. The project will be fleshed out over time to include some of these factors, such as proximity to susceptible land cover and\u00a0site depth.\r\n\r\nStudies conducted\u00a0largely in\u00a0New Mexico show that fire\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0necessarily affect buried cultural materials. Even a few\u00a0centimeters\u00a0of soil cover can be sufficient protection. This is good news, as sites in Florida tend to be more deeply buried than those in other states\u2014but it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean that Florida sites are not at risk of fire damage. Stumps can\u00a0smolder\u00a0and burn, with the potential to affect buried materials in the vicinity. Heavy duff, surface logs, and roots that\u00a0smolder\u00a0and burn also have the potential to expose subsurface materials to heat over time. In addition, root structures in many Florida plants are shallow due to high water table, which can carry burn into buried archaeological sites such as midden\/mound sites. The southern part of the Florida peninsula also has exposed limestone in many areas, limiting the soil cover."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":773150,"image_position":"right","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Fire damage might cause ceramics to change\u00a0color\u00a0or to spall (flake or fragment). It could also damage surface decoration. Beyond damage to the materials, fire could also affect thermoluminescence dating, which uses light emitted from an object to\u00a0determine\u00a0age.\r\n\r\nIn addition, organic materials tend to burn at lower temperatures than other types of artifacts. Most Florida sites\u00a0contain\u00a0numerous\u00a0bone and shell artifacts, which could undergo changes in\u00a0color\u00a0or appearance. Bone might also shrink or crystallize, which affects the ability to assess it.\r\n\r\nAnother consideration in assessing wildfire impact is shell heat capacity. Most Florida midden\/mound sites are composed primarily of shell materials. However, studies evaluating the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of shells\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0tested for wildfire situations, which would be a significant factor in evaluating risk for Florida sites.\r\n\r\nEven with all these risks and factors still up in the air, the project can go a long way toward helping Florida archaeologists plan for the worst. Archaeologists working within these boundaries can implement fire-resilient site management practices such as vegetation clearing to remove excess duff, and site documentation for previously unevaluated sites.\u00a0Above all, this\u00a0project highlights the need for careful and continued site monitoring, especially pre- and postfire, to make sure that Florida\u2019s history is well protected."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>GIS Protects the Past from Wildfire | Spring 2026 | ArcUser<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Archaeological sites across Florida are at increasing risk of wildfire damage. 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