Ambrey, Christopher LFleming, Christopher MarkManning, Matthew2021-06-231049-8001http://hdl.handle.net/1885/238214Employing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey and the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index, this study tests: (1) the association between forest fire danger and an individual's life satisfaction; (2) the association between forest fire danger and an individual's feeling of safety; and (3) whether the association between forest fire danger and an individual's life satisfaction is explained by feelings of safety. Further, this study employs the experienced preference method to estimate, in monetary terms, the psychological costs associated with forest fire danger. We find negative and significant associations between life satisfaction and forest fire danger, as well as between forest fire danger and feelings of safety. When feelings of safety are included in the life satisfaction regression, however, the forest fire danger variable is no longer statistically significant - suggesting that the link between forest fire danger and life satisfaction can be largely explained by an individual's feelings of safety. The experienced preference method yields an implicit willingness-to-pay of $10 per year to avoid a one unit increase in the spatially weighted average of the average daily value of the Fire Danger Index over the previous 12 monthsThis paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either DSS or the Melbourne Institute. We also thank two anonymous reviews and the Editor for their insightful feedback on an earlier draft of this paper. The authors are grateful to the Bureau of Meteorology that providing the derived historical fire weather dataset.application/pdfen-AU© IAWF 2017experienced preference methodHouseholdIncome and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) surveywillingness-to-pay201710.1071/WF161952020-11-23