Marc-André Parisien calls for the fire-science community to draw up maps of wildfire risk based on contributory factors such as local topography, vegetation and weather (Nature 534, 297; 2016). I suggest that incorporating social and economic risks into such maps would increase the effectiveness of fire-management policies.

The insurance and housing industries are likely to discourage construction of fire-sensitive structures in zones designated as high risk in wildfire maps. We therefore need proper accounting of the implications of fire-risk mapping for zoning, taxation and insurance fees. For example, introducing these maps could affect rural communities, which may have to pay higher premiums or be denied fire insurance.

We do not yet fully understand how to project human-caused fire risk. Demographics may explain global shifts in pyrogeography (W. Knorr et al. Nature Clim. Change http://doi.org/bkqn; 2016); changing land use and agricultural practices also contribute.

National fire-risk mapping systems will need to take into account local differences in governance and attitudes if they are to be effective at regional or community levels. There may be mismatches in ecosystem vulnerability, fire policies and acceptable degrees of fire risk. In the United States, for example, prescribed burning for habitat restoration is relatively new in Pennsylvania, but long established in neighbouring New Jersey.