scholarly journals Reconstruction of the Spring Hill Wildfire and Exploration of Alternate Management Scenarios Using QUIC-Fire

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Michael R. Gallagher ◽  
Zachary Cope ◽  
Daniel Rosales Giron ◽  
Nicholas S. Skowronski ◽  
Trevor Raynor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
New Physics ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
And Training

New physics-based fire behavior models are poised to revolutionize wildland fire planning and training; however, model testing against field conditions remains limited. We tested the ability of QUIC-Fire, a fast-running and computationally inexpensive physics-based fire behavior model to numerically reconstruct a large wildfire that burned in a fire-excluded area within the New York–Philadelphia metropolitan area in 2019. We then used QUIC-Fire as a tool to explore how alternate hypothetical management scenarios, such as prescribed burning, could have affected fire behavior. The results of our reconstruction provide a strong demonstration of how QUIC-Fire can be used to simulate actual wildfire scenarios with the integration of local weather and fuel information, as well as to efficiently explore how fire management can influence fire behavior in specific burn units. Our results illustrate how both reductions of fuel load and specific modification of fuel structure associated with frequent prescribed fire are critical to reducing fire intensity and size. We discuss how simulations such as this can be important in planning and training tools for wildland firefighters, and for avenues of future research and fuel monitoring that can accelerate the incorporation of models like QUIC-Fire into fire management strategies.

Fuel and fire characteristics in savanna - woodland of West Africa in relation to grazing and dominant grass type

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrice Savadogo ◽  
Didier Zida ◽  
Louis Sawadogo ◽  
Daniel Tiveau ◽  
Mulualem Tigabu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Savanna Woodland ◽  
Vegetation Height ◽  
Average Maximum ◽  
Dominant Grass

Fuel characteristics, fire behaviour and temperature were studied in relation to grazing, dominant grass type and wind direction in West African savanna–woodland by lighting 32 prescribed early fires. Grazing significantly reduced the vegetation height, total fuel load, and dead and live fuel fractions whereas plots dominated by perennial grasses had higher values for vegetation height, total fuel load and the quantity of live fuel load. Although fire intensity remained insensitive (P > 0.05) to any of these factors, fuel consumption was significantly (P = 0.021) reduced by grazing, rate of spread was faster in head fire (P = 0.012), and flame length was shorter in head fire than back fire (P = 0.044). The average maximum temperature was higher (P < 0.05) on non-grazed plots, on plots dominated by annual grasses, on plots subjected to head fire, and at the soil surface. Lethal temperature residence time showed a nearly similar trend to fire temperature. Wind speed and total fuel load were best predictors of fire behaviour parameters (R2 ranging from 0.557 to 0.862). It can be concluded that grazing could be used as a management tool to modify fire behaviour, back fire should be carried out during prescribed burning to lower fire severity, and the fire behaviour models can be employed to guide prescribed early fire in the study area.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Characteristics of Recent Major Wildfires in the USA, Australia and Brazil in 2018–2019 Using Multi-Source Satellite Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahlatse Kganyago ◽  
Lerato Shikwambana
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Radiative Power ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

This study analysed the characteristics of the recent (2018–2019) wildfires that occurred in the USA, Brazil, and Australia using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active fires (AF), fire radiative power (FRP, MW) and burned area (BA) products. Meteorological and environmental parameters were also analysed. The study found various patterns in the spatial distribution of fires, FRP and BA at the three sites, associated with various vegetation compositions, prevailing meteorological and environmental conditions and anthropogenic activities. We found significant fire clusters along the western and eastern coasts of the USA and Australia, respectively, while vastly distributed clusters were found in Brazil. Across all sites, significant fire intensity was recorded over forest cover (FC) and shrublands (SL), attributed to highly combustible tree crown fuel load characterised by leafy canopies and thin branches. In agreement, BA over FC was the highest in the USA and Australia, while Brazil was dominated by the burning of SL, characteristic of fire-tolerant Cerrado. The relatively lower BA over FC in Brazil can be attributed to fuel availability and proximity to highly flammable cover types such as cropland, SL and grasslands rather than fuel flammability. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of wildfires in various regions and the underlying environmental and meteorological causal factors, towards better wildfire disaster management strategies and habitat-specific firefighting.

Traditional and ecological fires and effects of bushfire laws in north Australian savannas

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Preece
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
The North ◽  
In Fire

Landscape fires are common and frequent across the north Australian savannas, and are arguably an essential component of regional ecosystem dynamics. Seasonal biases in fire regimes and the high frequency of late dry season fires in a large proportion of the region have been presented as an impediment to appropriate land management. Legislation regulating the lighting of fires applies to the whole of the savannas. The legislation seeks to control the lighting of fires, provides for permit systems to operate in each jurisdiction, and is supported by policies and guidance manuals. The present paper argues that the legislation fails to address prescribed burning, the biophysical and social realities of contemporary regimes, and management needs. The policies and legislation are in need of some fundamental changes, including recognition of the concept of prescribed burning, mechanisms to promote regional fire management strategies and plans, and recognition of indigenous traditional practices.

scholarly journals Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: An Overview

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 258-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Stocks ◽  
T. J. Lynham ◽  
B. D Lawson ◽  
M. E. Alexander ◽  
C. E. Van Wagner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Fire Danger Rating System ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

Forest fire danger rating research in Canada was initiated by the federal government in 1925. Five different fire danger rating systems have been developed since that time, each with increasing universal applicability across Canada. The approach has been to build on previous danger rating systems in an evolutionary fashion and to use field experiments and empirical analysis extensively. The current system, the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), has been under development by Forestry Canada since 1968. The first major subsystem of the CFFDRS, the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, provides numerical ratings of relative fire potential based solely on weather observations, and has been in use throughout Canada since 1970. The second major subsystem, the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System, accounts for variability in fire behavior among fuel types (predicting rate of spread, fuel consumption, and frontal fire intensity), was issued in interim form in 1984 with final production scheduled for 1990. A third major CFFDRS subsystem, the Canadian Forest Fire Occurrence Prediction (FOP) System, is currently being formulated. This paper briefly outlines the history and philosophy of fire danger rating research in Canada discussing in detail the structure of the current CFFDRS and its application and use by fire management agencies throughout Canada. Key words: fire danger, fire behavior, fire occurrence prediction, fuel moisture, fire danger rating system, fire management.

scholarly journals Prescribed Burning Reduces Large, High-Intensity Wildfires and Emissions in the Brazilian Savanna

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Filippe L.M. Santos ◽  
Joana Nogueira ◽  
Rodrigo A. F. de Souza ◽  
Rodrigo M. Falleiro ◽  
Isabel B. Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Brazilian Savanna ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Policy

Brazil has recently (2014) changed from a zero-fire policy to an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) program with the active use of prescribed burning (PB) in federal Protected Areas (PA) and Indigenous Territories (IT) of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). PB is commonly applied in the management of fire-prone ecosystems to mitigate large, high-intensity wildfires, the associated emissions, and high fire suppression costs. However, the effectiveness of such fire management in reducing large wildfires and emissions over Brazil remains mostly unevaluated. Here, we aim to fill the gap in the scientific evidence of the PB benefits by relying on the most up-to-date, satellite-derived fire datasets of burned area (BA), fire size, duration, emissions, and intensity from 2003 to 2018. We focused on two Cerrado ITs with different sizes and hydrological regimes, Xerente and Araguaia, where IFM has been in place since 2015. To understand fire regime dynamics, we divided the study period into three phases according to the prevalent fire policy and the individual fire scars into four size classes. We considered two fire seasons: management fire season (MFS, which goes from rainy to mid-dry season, when PBs are undertaken) and wildfires season (WFS, when PBs are not performed and fires tend to grow out of control). Our results show that the implementation of the IFM program was responsible for a decrease of the areas affected by high fire recurrence in Xerente and Araguaia, when compared with the Zero Fire Phase (2008–2013). In both regions, PB effectively reduced the large wildfires occurrence, the number of medium and large scars, fire intensity, and emissions, changing the prevalent fire season from the WFS to the MFS. Such reductions are significant since WFS causes higher negative impacts on biodiversity conservation and higher greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that the effect on wildfires can still be reduced if effective fire management policies, including PB, continue to be implemented during the coming decades.

Cost effectiveness of fire management strategies in southern Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 427 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Penman ◽  
B. A. Cirulis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Bayesian Decision ◽  
Fire Simulation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Increased Risk

Fire-management agencies invest significant resources to reduce the impacts of future fires. There has been increasing public scrutiny over how agencies allocate fire-management budgets and, in response, agencies are looking to use quantitative risk-based approaches to make decisions about expenditure in a more transparent manner. Advances in fire-simulation software and computing capacity of fire-agency staff have meant that fire simulators have been increasingly used for quantitative fire-risk analysis. Here we analyse the cost trade-offs of future fire management in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounding areas by combining fire simulation with Bayesian Decision Networks. We compare potential future-management approaches considering prescribed burning, suppression and fire exclusion. These data combined costs of treatment and impacts on assets to undertake a quantitative risk analysis. The proposed approach for fuel treatment in ACT and New South Wales (NSW) provided the greatest reduction in risk and the most cost-effective approach to managing fuels in this landscape. Past management decisions have reduced risk in the landscape and the legacy of these treatments will last for at least 3 years. However, an absence of burning will result in an increased risk from fire in this landscape.

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: An Overview

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 450-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Stocks ◽  
T. J. Lynham ◽  
B. D. Lawson ◽  
M. E. Alexander ◽  
C. E. Van Wagner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Fire Danger Rating System ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

Forest fire danger rating research in Canada was initiated by the federal government in 1925. Five different fire danger rating systems have been developed since that time, each with increasing universal applicability across Canada. The approach has been to build on previous danger rating systems in an evolutionary fashion and to use field experiments and empirical analysis extensively. The current system, the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), has been under development by Forestry Canada since 1968. The first major subsystem of the CFFDRS, the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, provides numerical ratings of relative fire potential based solely on weather observations, and has been in use throughout Canada since 1970. The second major subsystem, the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System, accounts for variability in fire behavior among fuel types (predicting rate of spread, fuel consumption, and frontal fire intensity), was issued in interim form in 1984 with final production scheduled for 1990. A third major CFFDRS subsystem, the Canadian Forest Fire Occurrence Prediction (FOP) System, is currectly being formulated. This paper briefly outline the history and philosophy of fire danger rating research in Canada discussing in detail the structure of the current CFFDRS and its application and use by fire management agencies throughout Canada. Key words: fire danger, fire behavior, fire occurrence prediction, fuel moisture, fire danger rating system, fire management.

A patch mosaic burning system for conservation areas in southern African savannas

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.H. Brockett ◽  
H.C. Biggs ◽  
B.W. van Wilgen
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Percentage Area

Fire-prone savanna ecosystems in southern African conservation areas are managed by prescribed burning in order to conserve biodiversity. A prescribed burning system designed to maximise the benefits of a diverse fire regime in savanna conservation areas is described. The area burnt per year is a function of the grass fuel load, and the number of fires per year is a function of the percentage area burnt. Fires are point-ignited, under a range of fuel and weather conditions, and allowed to burn out by themselves. The seasonal distribution of planned fires over a year is dependent on the number of fires. Early dry season fires (May–June) tend to be small because fuels have not yet fully cured, while late season fires (August–November) are larger. More fires are ignited in the early dry season, with fewer in the late dry season. The seasonality, area burnt, and fire intensity are spatially and temporally varied across a landscape. This should result in the creation of mosaics, which should vary in extent and existence in time. Envelopes for the accumulated percentage to be burnt per month, over the specified fire season, together with upper and lower buffers to the target area are proposed. The system was formalised after 8 years of development and testing in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. The spatial heterogeneity of fire patterns increased over the latter years of implementation. This fire management system is recommended for savanna conservation areas of >20 000 ha in size.

Height of Crown Scorch in Forest Fires

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Van Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Derived Relations ◽  
Ecological Response ◽  
Crown Scorch

A relation between fire behavior and crown scorch height is derived from measurements on 13 experimental outdoor fires. The range of data includes fire intensities from 16 to 300 kcal/s-m, and scorch heights from 2 to 17 m. The results agree with established theory that scorch height varies with the 2/3 power of line-fire intensity. The effects of air temperature and wind speed on scorch height are treated as well. The derived relations could be useful to those interested in prescribed burning under a crown canopy, ecological response of trees to fires of varying intensity, and timber losses following forest fires.

scholarly journals Development of Comprehensive Fuel Management Strategies for Reducing Wildfire Risk in Greece

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 789
Author(s):  
Palaiologos Palaiologou ◽  
Kostas Kalabokidis ◽  
Alan A. Ager ◽  
Michelle A. Day
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fuel Management ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Land Cover Types

A solution to the growing problem of catastrophic wildfires in Greece will require a more holistic fuel management strategy that focuses more broadly on landscape fire behavior and risk in relation to suppression tactics and ignition prevention. Current fire protection planning is either non-existent or narrowly focused on reducing fuels in proximity to roads and communities where ignitions are most likely. A more effective strategy would expand the treatment footprint to landscape scales to reduce fire intensity and increase the likelihood of safe and efficient suppression activities. However, expanding fuels treatment programs on Greek landscapes that are highly fragmented in terms of land use and vegetation requires: (1) a better understanding of how diverse land cover types contribute to fire spread and intensity; and (2) case studies, both simulated and empirical, that demonstrate how landscape fuel management strategies can achieve desired outcomes in terms of fire behavior. In this study, we used Lesvos Island, Greece as a study area to characterize how different land cover types and land uses contribute to fire exposure and used wildfire simulation methods to understand how fire spreads among parcels of forests, developed areas, and other land cover types (shrublands, agricultural areas, and grasslands) as a way to identify fire source–sink relationships. We then simulated a spatially coordinated fuel management program that targeted the fire prone conifer forests that generally burn under the highest intensity. The treatment effects were measured in terms of post-treatment fire behavior and transmission. The results demonstrated an optimized method for fuel management planning that accounts for the connectivity of wildfire among different land types. The results also identified the scale of risk and the limitations of relying on small scattered fuel treatment units to manage long-term wildfire risk.

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