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

Palaiologou, Palaiologos; Ager, Alan A.; Evers, Cody; Kalabokidis, Kostas

doi:10.1071/wf17119

Cited by 43 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…Over time, the operational capacity of fire services has been overwhelmed by extreme fire behaviors in repeated events (Molina-Terrén et al 2019). The response has always been an increase in efforts, causing stress and reactive approaches to the situation (CTI 2017(CTI , 2018Palaiologou et al 2018). Increasingly, emergency management based on large amounts of resources has been the expensive answer under the firefighting trap.…”

Section: Mediterranean Europe Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering strategic decision-making for wildfire management: avoiding the fear trap and creating a resilient landscape

Castellnou¹,

Prat‐Guitart

Arilla³

et al. 2019

fire ecol

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In recent years, fire services in Mediterranean Europe have been overwhelmed by extreme wildfire behavior. As a consequence, fire management has moved to defensive strategies with a focus only on the known risks (the fear trap). In this region, wildfires can change rapidly, increasing the uncertainty and causing complex operational scenarios that impact society right from the initial hours. To address this challenge, proactive approaches are an alternative to defensive and reactive strategies. We propose a methodology that integrates the uncertainty of decisions and the cost of each opportunity into the strategic decision-making process. The methodology takes into account values such as fire-fighting safety, organizational resilience, landscape resilience, and social values. Details of the methods and principles used to develop and implement a creative decision-making process that empower the fireline are provided. A tool that segregates the landscape into polygons of fire potential and defines the connectivity between those polygons is used. Two examples of operational implementation of this methodology are presented (2014 Tivissa Fire and 2015 Odena Fire). These methods facilitate the analysis of possible scenarios of resolution and the costs of the opportunities that help build resilient emergency response systems and prevent their collapse. Moreover, they help explain the risk to society and involve citizens in the decision-making process. These methods are based on the experience and lessons learned by European incident commanders, managers, and researchers collected during the last decade.

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Section: Mediterranean Europe Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering strategic decision-making for wildfire management: avoiding the fear trap and creating a resilient landscape

Castellnou¹,

Prat‐Guitart

Arilla³

et al. 2019

fire ecol

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“…Los incendios no entienden de límites administrativos y la responsabilidad en la gestión de combustibles es compartida y debe descomponerse en varias escalas (Calkin et al, 2011;Palaiologou et al, 2018). En los núcleos urbanos, los propietarios particulares de viviendas (y parcelas) y la administración local deben coordinarse e implicarse en el mantenimiento de los combustibles en zonas de interfaz urbano-forestal con el objeto de generar comunidades adaptadas a incendios forestales.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

“…La mayoría de los estudios previos desarrollados en ambientes mediterráneos se limitan a cuantificar el riesgo y la exposición de incendios (Alcasena et al, 2016b;Palaiologou et al, 2018;Salis et al, 2013), y muy pocos evalúan las diferencias entre posibles estrategias (configuraciones espaciales e intensidades de tratamientos) encaminadas a mitigar las pérdidas por incendios (Oliveira et al, 2016;Salis et al, 2016b). Debido a la escasez de recursos económicos disponibles para la ejecución de trabajos de prevención y la existencia de objetivos contrapuestos, la optimización espacial integra un complejo análisis que nos permite identificar una solución de compromiso con múltiples objetivos en las parcelas a tratar (Vogler et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Metodología de evaluación del riesgo de incendios forestales y priorización de tratamientos multifuncionales en paisajes mediterráneos

Alcasena

Vega‐García

Ager

et al. 2019

CIG

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In Mediterranean areas, the combined effects of the rural exodus, lack of forest management, and fire suppression policies have substantially contributed to increased forest fuel loadings and continuity over large areas. The result is a growing incidence of wildfires that exceed fire suppression capacity. Economic resources for landscape management are limited, and thus they must be prioritized towards the protection of valued assets where there is a high expectation of loss and the fuel treatments on strategic locations that restrict fires spreading into communities. We completed a case study in the Juslapeña Valley (Navarra, Spain) to demonstrate prioritization of fuel management activities. The study area has frequent and large forest fires that have caused significant damage to forest values and assets in rural communities. We first generated a wildfire risk map for valued assets, and then designed the optimal treatment mosaic within the community fireshed considering the wildfire exposure to forestlands and fire transmission to residential housing. We also identified overstocked stands where the timber or firewood production might supply the needs of local communities and partially cover the treatment cost. We found that the highest economic losses were obtained in residential houses located in the southern portion of the study area, mainly due to a higher burn probability. Fires ignited outside of the study area also exposed communities, and thus the extent considered in wildfire management plans needs to be adjusted to reflect the source and scale of risk to communities. The assessment framework presented in this study can be adapted to the multi-functional forest management in any fire-prone Mediterranean region elsewhere.

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“…Fire simulations were used to estimate the probability that large wildfires, over 1000 ha, could reach the perimeter of each settlement. Simulation approaches have been applied to estimate wildfire exposure of particular assets, such as cultural heritage sites, residential areas, energy infrastructures or natural habitats, specifically in Sardinia, Italy [71]; in Navarra, Spain [41]; and in Chalkidiki, Greece [72]. Similar methods have also been applied to estimate communities exposure in the USA [10,16].…”

Section: Risk Assessment At the Settlement Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Risk and Prioritizing Safety Interventions in Human Settlements Affected by Large Wildfires

Oliveira

Gonçalves

Benali

et al. 2020

Forests

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The large wildfires of June 2017 disturbed many communities in central Portugal. The civil parish of Alvares was severely affected, with about 60% of its area burnt. Assessing the risk of large wildfires affecting local communities is becoming increasingly important, to reduce potential losses in the future. In this study, we assessed wildfire risk for the 36 villages of Alvares parish, by combining hazard, exposure and vulnerability analysis at the settlement scale. Hazard was obtained from fire spread simulations, which integrated exposure together with population and building density within each village. Vulnerability was based on the sociodemographic characteristics of the population, ranked with a hierarchical cluster analysis. Coping capacity was also integrated, considering the distance of each village to the fire station and the time needed for residents to reach a shelter. We simulated 12 different land management scenarios, regarding the implementation of a fuel-break network and the level of forest management activities. The potential effects of each scenario in the exposure and risk levels of the settlements were evaluated. The results show that, for a business-as-usual scenario, 36% of the villages are at high or very high risk of wildfires. Examining each risk component, 28% of the villages are highly exposed, 44% are highly vulnerable, and 22% do not have a potential shelter on-site, calling for different intervention strategies in each specific risk dimension. All the land management scenarios, even if designed for other purposes than the protection of settlements, could decrease the proportion of highly exposed villages at different levels, up to a maximum of 61%. These findings can contribute to adjust prevention and mitigation strategies to the risk levels and the characteristics of the population and the territory, and to prioritize the protection and emergency actions at the local scale.

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

Cited by 43 publications

References 47 publications

Empowering strategic decision-making for wildfire management: avoiding the fear trap and creating a resilient landscape

Empowering strategic decision-making for wildfire management: avoiding the fear trap and creating a resilient landscape

Metodología de evaluación del riesgo de incendios forestales y priorización de tratamientos multifuncionales en paisajes mediterráneos

Assessing Risk and Prioritizing Safety Interventions in Human Settlements Affected by Large Wildfires

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