Fighting Wildfires with Data: How Analytics Can Help
California's wildfires are a yearly nightmare, destroying homes, threatening lives, and changing communities forever. But what if we could predict and prevent some of that damage?
That's exactly what a two-student team from Mexico's Universidad Iberoamericana, the Chaos Explorers, set out to do. They ranked in the top 15 among 112 teams at this year's global Curiosity Cup 2025.
Using SAS software, the team analyzed wildfire data to find patterns of damage across different counties and types of buildings. They created detailed data visualizations, like heat maps and bar charts, to pinpoint which areas were hit the hardest.
Their analysis revealed some critical insights:
- Counties of Butte, Sonoma, and Napa were the most severely affected by wildfires. Butte County had the highest concentration of destroyed structures (various types of physical buildings and constructions).
- Around 30% of structures studied were destroyed, and another 40% suffered some level of damage.
- Rural areas were hit harder than urban ones.
- Homes with combustible material faced the highest destruction.
These findings show that not all communities and structures are equally vulnerable. However, with data-driven insights, we can strengthen building standards, guide insurance strategies, and help local authorities allocate resources where they are needed most.
Congratulations to Chaos Explorers Vanessa Varela Cãrdena, Sebastian Said Sanchez, and their Faculty Advisor Alejandro Martinez Lopez for proving that analytics can be a game-changer toward more resilient communities.
See their full paper as a PDF, including the graphs, below the main headline.
