## 3 Data and Methods
### Use of Economic Model to Evaluate Fire Damage in Wili  
We adopted the _i-Tree_ method to assess the economic damage caused by the fire in the WUI of Haifa [60]. In _i-Tree_, the annual contribution of each tree to the urban environment is assessed in economic terms. The _i-Tree_ method was adopted by several countries, including Israel, Australia, and the UK. In _i-Tree_, the annual economic value of each tree is based on the following formula:  
\[\text{{TotVal}}\ (\text{USD})=\text{{Base value}}\ \times\text{DBH}\ \times\text{{f}}_{\text{{SpecVal}}}\times\text{{f}}_{\text{{LocVal}}}\ \times\text{{f}}_{\text{{CmapCombVal}}} \tag{2}\]  
where _TotVal_ is the total value of the tree in US dollar (USD) per year; DBH is the diameter of the tree at breast height (in cm); \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{SpecVal}}}\) is the tree species value factor (\(\text{{f}}_{\text{{SpecVal}}}\) ranges between 0 and 1), usually provided by tree experts; \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{LocVal}}}\) is the location value factor with values between 0 and 1. It is based on the extent of exposure that people have to the various benefits of the tree (e.g., a tree located within the city area gains higher \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{LocVal}}}\) value than a tree located at the interface between the city's buildings and wildland area); \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{CmapCombVal}}}\) is a canopy condition value factor, which also ranges between 0 and 1 depending on the tree's canopy condition (for e.g., a trimmed canopy gets a lower \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{CmapCombVal}}}\) value than a fully developed untrimmed canopy). In this study, we used the following \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{CmapCombVal}}}\) classification of the Israel Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOAG): a tree with a highly-trimmed canopy was assigned a value of 0.6, tree with a moderately trimmed canopy was given a value of 0.85, and for a tree with a fully developed, untrimmed canopy a \(\text{{f}}_{\text{{CmapCombVal}}}\) value of 1.0 was used. A base value of 2.5 USD per cm (i.e., DBH) is used as a maximum potential value in Equation (2). Finally, since we needed the total value of the tree over its entire lifecycle, the annual tree value calculated using the _i-Tree_ approach was multiplied by the average life cycle of the tree species after reducing its pre-fire age (see Figure 11 for tree age distribution in the burnt area). Future benefits were reduced using a 3% discount rate, which refers to the discount in future welfare. This discount rate is common in the literature [61], and is currently adopted by the Israeli The Ministry of EnvironmentalProtection. The following vector layers were created to calculate the spatially distributed economic damage using the _i-Tree_ method:  
* The Thiessen polygons method [62] was applied to derive tree species distribution within the burnt area by using the tree species distribution assessed at the 212 field plots. Then, a f\({}_{SpecVal}\) layer was derived for the entire burnt area at the Thiessen polygons resolution. * The f\({}_{LocVal}\) layer was produced by determining specific f\({}_{LocVal}\) value for each Thiessen polygon through the use of a zoning map of Haifa ([[http://gis.haifa.muni.il/haifa_html5/](http://gis.haifa.muni.il/haifa_html5/)]([http://gis.haifa.muni.il/haifa_html5/](http://gis.haifa.muni.il/haifa_html5/))) and a pre-fire aerial photograph taken in 2016 (Figure A2). Whenever uncertainty regarding the proper f\({}_{LocVal}\) value occurred, we consulted Mr. [PERSON], the director of the Department of Flowers and Plant Engineering in MOAG, previously the director of the forestry services in MOAG; Mr. [PERSON] led the adaptation of _i-Tree_ to the Israeli forest system. * Canopy condition were determined for each tree per plot using a pre-fire very-high-spatial resolution aerial photograph. This was then used to assign the f\({}_{CampPontVal}\) for each Thiessen polygon, as described above.