scholarly journals Using transboundary wildfire exposure assessments to improve fire management programs: a case study in Greece

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palaiologos Palaiologou ◽  
Alan A. Ager ◽  
Max Nielsen-Pincus ◽  
Cody R. Evers ◽  
Kostas Kalabokidis
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Spatial Diversity ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Transboundary Risk ◽  
Cultural Monuments

Numerous catastrophic wildfires in Greece have demonstrated that relying on fire suppression as the primary risk-management strategy is inadequate and that existing wildfire-risk governance needs to be re-examined. In this research, we used simulation modelling to assess the spatial scale of wildfire exposure to communities and cultural monuments in Chalkidiki, Greece. The study area typifies many areas in Greece in terms of fire regimes, ownership patterns and fire-risk mitigation. Fire-transmission networks were built to quantify connectivity among land tenures and populated places. We found that agricultural and unmanaged wildlands are key land categories that transmit fire exposure to other land tenures. In addition, fires ignited within protected lands and community boundaries are major sources of structure exposure. Important cultural monuments in the study area had fairly low exposure but higher potential for fires with moderate to high intensity. The results show how the spatial diversity of vegetation and fuels, in combination with vegetation management practices on private and public tracts of land, contribute to transboundary risk. We use the results to motivate a discussion of integrating transboundary risk assessments to improve the current wildfire-risk rating system and begin the process of reforming risk governance in Greece.

scholarly journals Assessing wildland–urban interface fire risk

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 201183
Author(s):  
Hussam Mahmoud ◽  
Akshat Chulahwat
Keyword(s):  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Calculated Risk ◽  
Reduce Risk ◽  
First Time

Recent wildfire events, in the United States (USA) and around the world, have resulted in thousands of homes destroyed and many lives lost, leaving communities and policy makers, once again, with the question as to how to manage wildfire risk. This is particularly important given the prevalent trend of increased fire frequency and intensity. Current approaches to managing wildfires focus on fire suppression and managing fuel build-up in wildlands. However, reliance on these strategies alone has clearly proven inadequate. As such, focus should be shifted towards minimizing potential losses to communities. Achieving this goal, however, requires detailed understanding of the factors that contribute to community vulnerability and the interplay between probability of ignition, vulnerability and calculated risk. In this study, we evaluate wildfire risk for four different communities across the USA for the duration of May to September to communicate a different perspective of risk assessment. We show, for the first time, that community risk is closely related to wind speed and direction, pattern of surrounding wildland vegetation, and buildings layout. The importance of the findings lies in the need for exploring unique viable solutions to reduce risk for every community independently as opposed to embracing a generalized approach as is currently the case.

scholarly journals The (De-)Contextualization of Geographical Knowledge in Forest Fire Risk Management in Chile as a Challenge for Governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-191
Author(s):  
Michael Handke
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Geographical Knowledge ◽  
Collective Risk ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Essential Knowledge ◽  
High Degree

AbstractChilean society is confronted with increasing risk from wildfires. Individual rather than collective risk management solutions predominate. Large forest companies, for example, reduce the probability of wildfires affecting their tree plantations with hierarchically-ordered management routines. Additionally, they purchase insurance policies to protect themselves from economic losses. Other stakeholders in the Chilean forest regions, however, do not have the same access to these forms of risk management due to the high degree of technical knowledge and organizational competences required. In his contribution, Michael Handke assesses the strengths and weaknesses of interacting hierarchical and market forms of risk management and calls for a deeper geographical approach to risk governance. He reveals that detailed geographical knowledge of wildfires is explicitly decontextualized and even ignored in current risk management practices. As a result, essential knowledge about the causes and effects of arson, which seem to be on the rise in Chile, is lost.

The adaptive capacity of forest management to changing fire regimes in the boreal forest of Quebec

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héloïse Le Goff ◽  
Alain Leduc ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Mike Flannigan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fuel Management ◽  
Adaptation Options

Climate influences natural processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, climate change raises many challenges for sustainable forest management; among them, the integration of fire and forest management is increasingly discussed. We propose here an evaluation of the adaptive capacity of forest management under changing forest fire regimes under climate change in the boreal forest of Quebec. Adaptation begins by reinterpreting current practices dealing with climatically driven variability. Among them, fire suppression, and regeneration enhancement can contribute to coping with some impacts of climate change. However, there is an increasing need to develop more integrative and spatially explicit management strategies to decrease the vulnerability of forest management to changing fire risk. Some developing management strategies, such as fuel management or the triad approach (zoning system for conservation, intensive, and extensive forest management), present an interesting potential for integrating the fire risk in management plans. While fuel management and fire suppression are indicated for particularly severe fire regimes, protection against insects, and maintaining a shorter disturbance cycle using forest management represent the preferred adaptation options where the fire cycle is lengthening under climate change. Key words: forest fire, fire risk, climate change, vulnerability, impacts, adaptation strategy, adaptation options, sustainable forest management, fire management

scholarly journals Jet stream dynamics, hydroclimate, and fire in California from 1600 CE to present

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (12) ◽  
pp. 5393-5398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene R. Wahl ◽  
Eduardo Zorita ◽  
Valerie Trouet ◽  
Alan H. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Jet Stream ◽  
Wet Season

Moisture delivery in California is largely regulated by the strength and position of the North Pacific jet stream (NPJ), winter high-altitude winds that influence regional hydroclimate and forest fire during the following warm season. We use climate model simulations and paleoclimate data to reconstruct winter NPJ characteristics back to 1571 CE to identify the influence of NPJ behavior on moisture and forest fire extremes in California before and during the more recent period of fire suppression. Maximum zonal NPJ velocity is lower and northward shifted and has a larger latitudinal spread during presuppression dry and high-fire extremes. Conversely, maximum zonal NPJ is higher and southward shifted, with narrower latitudinal spread during wet and low-fire extremes. These NPJ, precipitation, and fire associations hold across pre–20th-century socioecological fire regimes, including Native American burning, postcontact disruption and native population decline, and intensification of forest use during the later 19th century. Precipitation extremes and NPJ behavior remain linked in the 20th and 21st centuries, but fire extremes become uncoupled due to fire suppression after 1900. Simulated future conditions in California include more wet-season moisture as rain (and less as snow), a longer fire season, and higher temperatures, leading to drier fire-season conditions independent of 21st-century precipitation changes. Assuming continuation of current fire management practices, thermodynamic warming is expected to override the dynamical influence of the NPJ on climate–fire relationships controlling fire extremes in California. Recent widespread fires in California in association with wet extremes may be early evidence of this change.

scholarly journals Application of the Socio-Ecological System Framework to Forest Fire Risk Management: A Systematic Literature Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Vigna ◽  
Angelo Besana ◽  
Elena Comino ◽  
Alessandro Pezzoli
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Starting Point

Although increasing concern about climate change has raised awareness of the fundamental role of forest ecosystems, forests are threatened by human-induced impacts worldwide. Among them, wildfire risk is clearly the result of the interaction between human activities, ecological domains, and climate. However, a clear understanding of these interactions is still needed both at the global and local levels. Numerous studies have proven the validity of the socioecological system (SES) approach in addressing this kind of interdisciplinary issue. Therefore, a systematic review of the existing literature on the application of SES frameworks to forest ecosystems is carried out, with a specific focus on wildfire risk management. The results demonstrate the existence of different methodological approaches that can be grouped into seven main categories, which range from qualitative analysis to quantitative spatially explicit investigations. The strengths and limitations of the approaches are discussed, with a specific reference to the geographical setting of the works. The research suggests the importance of local community involvement and local knowledge consideration in wildfire risk management. This review provides a starting point for future research on forest SES and a supporting tool for the development of a sustainable wildfire risk adaptation and mitigation strategy.

scholarly journals Hazards of Risk: Identifying Plausible Community Wildfire Disasters in Low-Frequency Fire Regimes

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 934
Author(s):  
Andy McEvoy ◽  
Becky K. Kerns ◽  
John B. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Community Exposure ◽  
Risk Reduction Strategies

Optimized wildfire risk reduction strategies are generally not resilient in the event of unanticipated, or very rare events, presenting a hazard in risk assessments which otherwise rely on actuarial, mean-based statistics to characterize risk. This hazard of actuarial approaches to wildfire risk is perhaps particularly evident for infrequent fire regimes such as those in the temperate forests west of the Cascade Range crest in Oregon and Washington, USA (“Westside”), where fire return intervals often exceed 200 years but where fires can be extremely intense and devastating. In this study, we used wildfire simulations and building location data to evaluate community wildfire exposure and identify plausible disasters that are not based on typical mean-based statistical approaches. We compared the location and magnitude of simulated disasters to historical disasters (1984–2020) in order to characterize plausible surprises which could inform future wildfire risk reduction planning. Results indicate that nearly half of communities are vulnerable to a future disaster, that the magnitude of plausible disasters exceeds any recent historical events, and that ignitions on private land are most likely to result in very high community exposure. Our methods, in combination with more typical actuarial characterizations, provide a way to support investment in and communication with communities exposed to low-probability, high-consequence wildfires.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Legal Framework for Building Fire Safety Regulations in Spain

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Amaya Osácar ◽  
Juan Bautista Echeverria Trueba ◽  
Brian Meacham
Keyword(s):  
Fire Safety ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Building Fire ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Ideal

There is a trend in Europe towards increasing the quality and performance of regulations. At the same time, regulatory failure has been observed in the area of building fire safety regulation in England and elsewhere. As a result, an analysis of the appropriateness of fire safety regulations in Spain is warranted, with the objective being to assess whether a suitable level of fire safety is currently being delivered. Three basic elements must be considered in such analysis: the legal and regulatory framework, the level of fire risk/safety of buildings that is expected and the level which actually results, and a suitable method of analysis. The focus of this paper is creating a legal and regulatory framework, in particular with respect to fire safety in buildings. Components of an ”ideal” building regulatory framework to adequately control fire risk are presented, the existing building regulatory framework is summarized, and an analysis of the gaps between the ideal and the existing systems is presented. It is concluded that the gaps between the ideal and the existing framework are significant, and that the current fire safety regulations are not appropriate for assuring delivery of the intended level of fire risk mitigation.

scholarly journals Navigating the Wildfire–Pandemic Interface: Public Perceptions of COVID-19 and the 2020 Wildfire Season in Arizona

Fire ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Catrin M. Edgeley ◽  
Jack T. Burnett
Keyword(s):  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wildland Urban Interface ◽  
Wildfire Management ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Literature Highlight ◽  
Wildfire Season

COVID-19 has complicated wildfire management and public safety for the 2020 fire season. It is unclear whether COVID-19 has impacted the ability of residents in the wildland–urban interface to prepare for and evacuate from wildfire, or the extent to which residents feel their household’s safety has been affected. Several areas with high wildfire risk are also experiencing record numbers of COVID-19 cases, including the state of Arizona in the southwestern United States. We conducted a mixed-mode survey of households in close proximity to two recent wildfires in rural Arizona to better understand whether residents living in the wildland–urban interface perceive COVID-19 as a factor in wildfire safety. Preliminary data suggest that the current challenges around collective action to address wildfire risk may be further exacerbated due to COVID-19, and that the current pandemic has potentially widened existing disparities in household capacity to conduct wildfire risk mitigation activities in the wildland–urban interface. Proactive planning for wildfire has also increased perceived ability to practice safe distancing from others during evacuation, highlighting the benefits that household planning for wildfire can have on other concurrent hazards. Parallels in both the wildfire and pandemic literature highlight vast opportunities for future research that can expand upon and advance our findings.

scholarly journals Key Mechanisms of Risk Management in South Africa’s National Government Departments: The Public Sector Risk Management Framework and the King III Benchmark

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tankiso Moloi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Risk Process ◽  
National Government ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Risk Disclosure ◽  
Poor Risk ◽  
Management Disclosures

Government provides essential services to the population and therefore, uncertainties that could hinder government’s objectives should be identified, mitigated/controlled and monitored. Using the content analysis for data extraction in the annual reports of national government departments (NGDs), this paper explored risk management practices in South Africa’s public service, with national government departments as a case in point. The findings are that in general, there are poor risk management practices in the NGDs as the majority of the observed categories were not disclosed in the NGDs annual reports.Since risk deals with the uncertainties on the objectives, it is concerning that NGDs have poor risk management practices, particularly because they are enablers (implementers) of government overarching strategy. As enablers of government strategy, it is recommended that NGDs view risk management as a process that enables them to identify threats which could hinder the attainment of their objectives, whilst also leveraging opportunities that may arise. It is further recommended that the risk process is viewed as a scenario or option analysis exercise that allows NGDs to properly plan, understand the intended outcomes and prepare responses to deal with any uncertainties. A summarised and harmonized risk governance requirement used for the purpose of exploring risk management disclosures has been suggested by this study and it could be used as a reference point of risk disclosure improvement by NGDs.

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