Wildfire risk to critical infrastructure: A systematic review highlighting the need for cross-sector collaboration

Wildfire risk to critical infrastructure is an increasing concern as the frequency and intensity of wildfires continue to increase. Existing research has focused primarily on electrical infrastructure and watershed contamination, leaving other infrastructure sectors comparatively understudied. In this systematic literature review, we analyse the types of infrastructure that have been examined and summarise the methodologies used to characterise wildfire hazard, exposure, and vulnerability across power, water, transport, and highly hazardous industrial infrastructure. This review provides a consolidation of state-of-the-art approaches in the analysis of wildfire risk to critical infrastructure. Key gaps identified include lack of hazard characterisations of non-flame wildfire hazards (smoke and firebrands), limited and asset-focused physical vulnerability analysis and related damage thresholds, poor linkages between regional hazard mapping, and limited consideration of critical infrastructure interdependencies. These gaps directly motivate methodological synergies. For instance, detailed thermal and vulnerability modelling developed for water distribution pipes can be transferred to similar components in other sectors. Dynamic wildfire and smoke models for power and hazardous industrial infrastructure can be extended to sectors currently using static or occurrence-based metrics, and publicly produced regional hazard products could be integrated with sector-specific exposure and vulnerability models to create consistent, multi-scale risk assessments. By systematically comparing risk characterisation approaches across sectors, this review highlights that critical infrastructure systems share sufficient commonalities, vulnerability mechanisms, and spatial scales to enable transfer and adaptation of wildfire risk assessment methodologies. Coordinated development and sharing of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability characterisation tools across sectors and the development of proactive adaptation plans would substantially improve the assessment and management of wildfire risk to critical infrastructure.