Abstract
Fire management agencies around the world use suppression firing for fire control. Yet, we know little about the extent of its use (e.g., prevalence and spatial coverage) and its impact on containment. We examine the prevalence and practice of suppression firing in Victoria, Australia. We used operational data from five years (2010–2015) to identify and map the incidence of suppression firing on 74 large fires (500+ ha). Suppression firing occurred on half (34) of these fires, 26 of which had data to map firing locations. The area burnt by suppression firing ranged from <1 ha to ~20,000 ha on separate fires. Archetypal suppression firing occurred during intervals of low fire spread and resulted in modest fire behaviour. Ground crews generally conducted the perimeter suppression firing. Aerial ignition was more common on large internal firing operations. For the 26 fires where we mapped the firing locations, firing occurred along 77% of the perimeter-aligned road. Suppression firing was a prominent containment tool used along one-fifth of the total external perimeter of these 74 large fires. Quantification of this practice is a first step towards establishing ignition thresholds, production rates, and integration with containment probability models.
Highlights
Suppression firing that ‘uses fire to fight fire’ is a widespread practice by fire management agencies [1]
We focus on the following questions: (1) What proportion of large fires have suppression firing, and does that vary by fuel type? (2) How much of the fire is contained with suppression firing? (3) What extent of the fire burn area is attributable to suppression firing? we describe the practice of suppression firing in this jurisdiction [11]
We found suppression firing on half (37) of the 74 large fires that occurred in Victoria, between July 2010 and July 2015
Summary
Suppression firing that ‘uses fire to fight fire’ is a widespread practice by fire management agencies [1]. The Final Report of the 2020 NSW Bushfire Inquiry calls for research into this firefighting practice [4]. To this end, we conduct a formal examination of suppression firing in Victoria, Australia to describe the practice of suppression firing and ascertain the prevalence of its use over a five-year period (2010–2015). (3) What extent of the fire burn area is attributable to suppression firing? We describe the practice of suppression firing in this jurisdiction [11] We focus on the following questions: (1) What proportion of large fires have suppression firing, and does that vary by fuel type? (2) How much of the fire is contained with suppression firing? (3) What extent of the fire burn area is attributable to suppression firing? we describe the practice of suppression firing in this jurisdiction [11]
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