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Human exposure to wildfires has more than doubled in two decades – who is at risk might surprise you

  • Written by Mojtaba Sadegh, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State University
imageSmoke rises from a brush fire near Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles in 2007Hector Mata/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past two decades, a staggering 21.8 million Americans found themselves living within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of a large wildfire. Most of those residents would have had to evacuate, and many would have been exposed to smoke and...

Read more: Human exposure to wildfires has more than doubled in two decades – who is at risk might surprise you

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