The Discussion Papers series presents results from ongoing research projects and other research and analysis by SSB staff, intended for international journals or books. The views and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s).
Our analysis integrates vegetation, maintenance, and management data with emergency response records from fire departments and weather data. Using panel data regressions, we assess the risk of fire in response to these variables. A key finding is that increased coastal heathland management significantly reduces fire risk, particularly during droughts, warm weather, and periods with strong winds. The reason is that well-maintained coastal heathlands having reduced levels of dry vegetation, making them less susceptible to ignition even during conditions when the overall fire hazard is increased.