Abstract
Generally forest fires are related to human activities and need an effective fire prevention and suppression organization, based on a deep knowledge of the territory, fire behaviour and suppression system resources network. To organise monitoring, prevention and fire fighting operations, the knowledge of the risk level for different areas is important. To evaluate the probability that a forest fire occurs and to organise prevention and management of fire fighting activities, both simple and easy-to-use risk and operational difficulty indices were implemented. CNR-IBIMET and DISTAF Dept., on commitment of Tuscany Region, developed a multistep process for the evaluation of the risk, that can be used to assess land planning and to organise seasonal fire fighting resources. This model is called Final Risk Index (FRI); it is the result of the combination of the following two indices, which are initially developed separately. The concerned indices are the Global Risk Index (GRI), and Operational Difficulty Index in Fire Fighting (ODIF). The fire risk index processes different parameters to generate two hazards: static and dynamic, merged to obtain the Global Risk Index (GRI). It is very helpful to estimate the probability of forest fire occurrence, but it does not provide information on forest fire extinction difficulties. The operational difficulty index in fire fighting (ODIF) resumes all the factors affecting fire fighting activity by air and by ground and suggests the extinction efficiency of forest fires in a given area. Thus FRI improves aspects of the fire prevention planning, focused to the needs of a public operative structure. The objective was modelling the links between the main components in ignition and fire fighting actions to produce an easy to use tool to face the emergences, also foreseeing forest fires regime changes in the coming decades.
Highlights
Forest fires are a major concern in many countries in Europe, most notably in the South, in the Mediterranean Region, and in Central and Northern Europe
Forest fires are related to human activities and need an effective fire prevention and suppression organization, based on a deep knowledge of the territory, fire behaviour and suppression system resources network
CNR-IBIMET and DISTAF Dept., on commitment of Tuscany Region, developed a multistep process for the evaluation of the risk, that can be used to assess land planning and to organise seasonal fire fighting resources. This model is called Final Risk Index (FRI); it is the result of the combination of the following two indices, which are initially developed separately
Summary
Forest fires are a major concern in many countries in Europe, most notably in the South, in the Mediterranean Region, and in Central and Northern Europe. Increasing climate (droughts) or weather (heat waves) extremes are additional threats that we need to be prepared for in the coming years and decades. In this framework, considering the necessity to safeguard forested areas with particular attention to Mediterranean ecosystems prone to wildfire, the present work has been performed on the whole Tuscany Region territory to define a method to classify both ignition risk and operational constrains. In the future operational phase the meteorological index will be derived by application of Canadian Fire Weather Index (Canadian Wildland Information System—Canadian Forest Service) using the meteorological data measured and collected by the Regional Hydrological Service. The results of the present work supply the necessary indications on the relevance of different meteorological parameters in ignition risk definition and the influence of these data on fuel risk level [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
