## 2 Case Background
### Study Area  
Region of Maule  
The study area is located in the Maule Region, in central Chile, between 34\({}^{\circ}\)41\({}^{\prime}\) and 36\({}^{\circ}\)33\({}^{\prime}\) south latitude. The surface area is 30,296 km\({}^{2}\), equivalent to 10% of the national territory [62]. Its population is 1,044,950 inhabitants, with a density of 34.5 inhabitants per square km, with 73% of the population living in urban areas [63]. Its topography integrates mountains of 4000 m.a.s.l. in the Andes Mountains, an intermediate depression, and the Coastal Mountains with mountain ranges with moderate to steep slopes. The climate is a temperate Mediterranean climate, with a dry season of six months in the north and four months in the south. The primary use of the land is grassland and scrubland (25%), agricultural land (22%), and forest plantations (20%) [64]. It has an area of native forest of 581,515 hectares and 634,893 forest hectares [65]. Given the topographical and climatic characteristics, the forest crops are mainly located in the Cordillera de la Costa [64]. For the analysis of the changes in the landscape after the 2017 megafire, we selected the following three communes in the region: Constitucion, Empedrado, and Cauquenes (Figure 1). The selected communes correspond to the populations most affected by the 2017 fires [66]. It should be noted that in Empedrado, the town of Santa Olga was entirely consumed by the fire, becoming an emblematic case of megafires' impact on a population in a WUI [15; 67]. The incident negatively impacted the water and electricity supply and generated contamination of water sources for human and animal consumption. In these communes, the labor sources associated with agricultural and livestock production and the forestry industry were also affected [67]. Constitucion, located between latitude 35\({}^{\circ}\)19\({}^{\prime}\) south and longitude 72\({}^{\circ}\)24\({}^{\prime}\) west, is a coastal city with a total area of 1344 km\({}^{2}\)[68]. It is located on the south bank of the mouth of the Maule River in the Pacific Ocean. The maritime influence keeps its daily temperatures  
Figure 1: (**a**) Location of the study area in Chile. (**b**) Location of the study area on a regional scale. (**c**) Communal scale study area. moderate, with an annual average of around 14 \({}^{\circ}\)C. It is characterized by hot summers and mild winters, with an average annual rainfall of 662 mm. Its population is 46,068, of which 19% reside in rural areas [63]. The main economic activity is forestry and agriculture. The use of the land is native forest (5%), plantations (41%), thickets (34%), crops, and grasslands (19%) [68]. In the south of the region is the commune of Empedrado, between the coordinates 35\({}^{\circ}\)36\({}^{\prime}\) south latitude and 72\({}^{\circ}\)16\({}^{\prime}\) west. Its surface is 565 km\({}^{2}\) and is located in the coastal mountain range. Its annual temperatures range between 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 33 \({}^{\circ}\)C [69]. Its total population is 4142 inhabitants, of which 27% live in rural areas [63]. The main economic activity is agricultural and forestry production, including agriculture, livestock, dairy production, wines, and liquors. Land use is divided into the native forest (17%), plantations (17%), bushes (17%), agricultural (17%), grasslands (17%), meadows (17%), grassland crop rotation (17%) and others (17%) [69]. Between 35\({}^{\circ}\)58\({}^{\prime}\) south latitude and 72\({}^{\circ}\)18\({}^{\prime}\) west longitude is the commune of Cauquenes, with an area of 2216 km\({}^{2}\)[70]. Its population is 40,441 inhabitants, with a rural population of 18% [63]. It has a main body of water, the Cauquenes River, whose flow has decreased due to the drought affecting the region. Its climate is a Mediterranean climate, with average temperatures of around 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C in January and 7 \({}^{\circ}\)C in July. The economy of the commune is diverse and includes manufacturing activities (20.5%), forestry (17.3%), and electricity production (13.2%), among others.