Academic literature on the topic 'Forest fires Prevention and control Australia'

AbstractIn Spain, 55% of land area is covered by forests and other woodlands. Broadleaves occupy a predominant position (56%), followed by conifers (37%) and mixed stands (7%). Forest are distributed among the Atlantic (north-western Iberian rim), Mediterranean (rest of the peninsula including the Balearic Islands) and Macaronesian (Canary Islands) climate zones. Spanish woodlands provide a multiplicity of provisioning ecosystem services, such as, wood, cork, pine nuts, mushrooms and truffles. In terms of habitat services, biodiversity is highly relevant. Cultural services are mainly recreational and tourism, the latter being a crucial economic sector in Spain (including rural and ecotourism). Regulatory services, such as erosion control, water availability, flood and wildfire risk reduction, are of such great importance that related forest zoning and consequent legislation were established already in the eighteenth century. Climate change in Southern Europe is forecast to involve an increase in temperature, reduction in precipitation and increase in aridity. As a result, the risks for natural disturbances are expected to increase. Of these, forest fires usually have the greatest impact on ecosystems in Spain. In 2010–2019, the average annual forest surface area affected by fire was 95,065 ha. The combination of extreme climatic conditions (drought, wind) and the large proportion of unmanaged forests presents a big challenge for the future. Erosion is another relevant risk. In the case of fire, mitigation strategies should combine modification of the land use at the landscape level, in order to generate mosaics that will create barriers to the spread of large fires, along with stand-level prevention measures to either slow the spread of surface fires or, more importantly, impede the possibility of fire crowning or disrupt its spread. Similarly, forest management can play a major role in mitigating the impact of drought on a forest. According to the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) accounting, Spanish forests absorbed 11% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Investments in climate-smart forestry provide opportunities for using all the different parts of the Spanish forest-based sector for climate mitigation––forest sinks, the substitution of wood raw materials and products for fossil materials, and the storage of carbon in wood products. Moreover, this approach simultaneously helps to advance the adaptation of the forest to changing climate and to build forest resilience.

The risk of fire in urban forests is high due to housing and living infrastructure adjacent to the forest, resulting in large human and property damage and high frequency of occurrence. It is very important to identify the forest fire environment and potential risk factors for each city in order to manage the forest fire risk in the cities adjacent to the forest. In this study, urban forest fire management measures were suggested by conducting a survey on the causes of forest fires and the entire adjacent forests in Nowon-gu, which has the most urban-forest adjacent areas in terms of administrative districts among Seoul, which has the highest population density in Korea. The forest fire investigation has been conducted for the last 5 years, and in addition to analyzing the forest, topography, and meteorological environment, analysis of fire-vulnerable areas in the event of a forest fire in downtown Seoul was conducted. Eight action plans were presented by dividing the actionable forest fire management into prevention, preparation, and response stages for areas adjacent to forests and areas vulnerable to forest fire risk. First, in prevention, fuel management that can reduce the risk of forest fires, map production and risk reduction management for temples in the forest, and selection of appropriate locations to install forest fire long-distance around monitoring cameras and drone autonomous monitoring stations were suggested. Second, in the preparation stage, a fuel blocking method was presented to establish a safe zone for hiking trails, prepare a mountaineering safety map for forest fire evacuation, and prevent the spread of residential fires in forest interface area. Third, in the response stage, the installation of a multi-purpose outdoor fire hydrant for suppression of forest fires and house fires adjacent to the forest, the activities of forest fire extinguishing vehicles and marking of the entry area, and the establishment of an urban forest disaster integrated control system were suggested.

The island of Kythira, in Greece, suffered a devastating forest fire that started on August 4, 2017. After that, it became evident that the location of the island, away from aerial fire suppression resources bases and with limited capacity for quick arrival of significant ground firefighting reinforcements, necessitates careful fire prevention and presuppression planning to avoid repetition of the disaster. The study presented here aimed to examine the adequacy of the available 13 firetrucks on the island to successfully carry out initial attack under similar conditions to those of 2017 and to evaluate what could be the effect of four alternative fuel treatment scenarios on reducing the potential of a future disaster. A map of the forest fuels on the island, a weather scenario similar to the conditions at the start of the 2017 fire, and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the island were used with a fire spread simulator (G-FMIS) first to simulate the actual fire and to examine if it matches the observed fire spread in 2017. Once good agreement was verified, four fuel treatment scenarios were applied on the fuels. The accordingly adjusted fuel map was used for further simulations. The resulting fire perimeter growth, taking flame length into consideration, was examined against the capacity of ground forces (firetrucks) to control lengths of the perimeter using a simple but effective fire suppression model, that is based on an equation developed earlier for assessment of the effectiveness of such forces in Greece. The results showed that under broadcast grazing on the island the risk of escaped fires can be minimized, reducing the need for heavy aerial support in case of a fire.

The recent upsurge in the incidence of extreme wildfire events, the expected impact of climate change on the frequency and severity of fires, and the progressive expansion of wildland-urban interface areas highlight the tangible need for improvement in our ability to predict, mitigate and manage the growing risk to which communities are exposed. The aim of this research is to contribute to deepen the knowledge on the spatial simulation of complex dynamics of wildland surface fire behaviour through the development and validation of a spatially distributed predictive model for the simulation of wildland surface fire spread intended for operational purposes. Given the position of one or more ignition points, the developed model allows to (i) obtain near real time dynamic estimates of the geo-environmental variables that control the fire spread, (ii) compute the direction and intensity of the maximum rate of fire spread in heterogeneous environments, and (iii) simulate the surface fire spread using agent-based models. The final aim is to provide competent authorities with timely information on the expected evolution of the flame front to optimise decision-making processes. The model, developed under synthetic conditions, is then applied to case studies recorded in the territory of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, that offers institutional information on the ignition location, the evolution of the flame front, and the completed fire suppression activities, which are implemented in the model as well. Overall, the model showed a promising predictive capacity evaluated in quantitative terms of morphological matching between the observed and predicted fire spread patterns, returning more accurate results in areas with less complex morphologies and dominated by herbaceous rather than shrubby fuels. The model also made it possible to obtain accurate simulations in rapid processing times, compatible with its operational application as a tool for optimising and planning fire risk prevention and mitigation strategies and policies as well as fire management activities. Future research will be addressed at improving the predictive capacity of the model and estimating the propagation of the parametric uncertainty of the geo-environmental variables within the model.

Wildfires are a common threat to the sustainability of commercial plantations in fire-prone regions. Large losses of plantations from wildfires can lead to the disruption of forest yield, with flow-on impacts to downstream industries, resulting in significant social and economic impacts to local communities. Future climate projections indicate an increase in wildfire activity, including increases in fire extent, severity or frequency in many fire-prone ecosystems. Land and fire management agencies around the world invest significant resources to reduce the likelihood and impact of future fires and increase the capacity for fire suppression. However, we currently know very little about how commercial plantations will be impacted by fire as the climate changes, or if strategic management can mitigate some of these risks into the future. In this study we sought to quantify fire risks to plantations and nearby community assets under current and changing climates; and to evaluate the effectiveness of management options for mitigating some of these risks under changing climates. This research included the customisation of a fire simulation tool for use in plantation landscapes by developing plantation-specific fuel functions (derived from field-sampling in hardwood and softwood plantations around Australia) that were integrated into fire spread models. To quantify longer-term risks, these advancements were also integrated into a stochastic fire regime simulator (FROST– Fire Regimes and Operation Simulation Tool) that is proposed for future use in operational risk assessments. Fire risks to both environmental and community assets were evaluated under current and changing climates to support evidence-based management to help guide investment, insurance negotiations, and fire mitigation in the plantation sector. The fire regime simulator (FROST) was also used to evaluate a range of different management options for reducing risk as a basis for efficient allocation of fire prevention and response resources both by plantation growers and by broader fire regions. We found that reducing suppression response times (to 15 minutes or less for all ignitions) and the current approach to management (a construction rate of 2km/h for suppression and 15-minute response times, with 4000ha/year of prescribed burning) were consistently the best management strategies for reducing fire risks to plantations and adjacent communities, regardless of the climate model used. These strategies offer the greatest scope for reducing future wildfire risks to plantation assets and adjacent communities as the climate changes. High pruning in strategic locations may also be worthy of future investment but should be considered in combination with more rapid suppression and prescribed burning. Plantation owners currently have little influence over the amount and location of prescribed burning adjacent to plantations, and fuel reduction burning is not regularly undertaken in Australian plantations. Therefore, rapid suppression response times is the single best investment for minimising impact to plantation assets under a hotter or drier climate.