Southern Europe is a highly fire-prone region where extreme fires have often disastrous consequences on both structures and people.Human activities and fire weather conditions favouring ignitions and propagation have ...Southern Europe is a highly fire-prone region where extreme fires have often disastrous consequences on both structures and people.Human activities and fire weather conditions favouring ignitions and propagation have always been the drivers of such fires but anthropogenic climate change alongside the extension of wildland-urban interface(WUI)that concentrates both assets and fire ignitions have the compounding effect of exacerbating fire risk.WUI are currently not adequately prepared to sustain events whose frequency and intensity are foreseen to increase in the future as shown during the extreme fires that occurred recently in Euro-Mediterranean countries.This work presents the context of WUI fires in the Euro-Mediterranean region,their driving forces and their impacts on society,with insights from three recent catastrophic fires that drew much attention.In this context,we propose a conceptual framework for understanding the WUI issue assessing the implications for fire risk and providing some guidance to mitigate this risk,updated management strategies as well as comments about gaps in our current knowledge and how we might address this problem in the future.A successful approach to reduce fire risk in the future will require building resilient landscapes and communities better prepared to face these extreme fire events in which WUI population,forest managers,land planners,civil protection,and policy-makers need to work together to improve the safety and resilience of these fire-prone areas.展开更多
Post-incident studies provide direct and valuable information to further the scientific understanding of Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)fires.Most post-incident studies involve data collection in the field(i.e.a“resear...Post-incident studies provide direct and valuable information to further the scientific understanding of Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)fires.Most post-incident studies involve data collection in the field(i.e.a“research field deployment”).In this review,technical reports of post-incident studies for WUI fire and other natural disasters were analyzed and professionals directly involved in WUI fire research field deployments were interviewed.The goal of this review is to provide a resource for future WUI studies regarding the development of safe and effective fieldwork procedures,the collection and integration of accurate and relevant data,and the establishment of practical lessons learned.Three main stages of WUI fire post-incident studies are identified and described in detail.Data collection methodologies,data attributes,logistical practices and lessons-learned were compiled from various past studies and are presented here in the context of application to WUI fire.展开更多
Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)are becoming increasingly hazardous for life safety and property protection.Guidelines and standards for fire practitioners are needed in order to help WUI communities face th...Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)are becoming increasingly hazardous for life safety and property protection.Guidelines and standards for fire practitioners are needed in order to help WUI communities face this threat and become fire-adapted.A performance-based design approach(PBD)is proposed to deal with the complex issues present at the WUI homeowner scale,which entails the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)tools such as FDS in order to identify vulnerabilities in a quantitative manner.An analysis of recent European WUI fires is presented,along with the definition of several pattern scenarios that can be derived from these.Based on this analysis,examples of PBD fire scenarios specific for the Mediterranean WUI microscale are presented,involving glazing systems,roofing and gutters,external structures adjacent to the main building,and gaps present in the building envelope.A worked example to show the implementation of the proposed PBD method is provided in which the fire impact of residential fuel on a glazing system is quantitatively analysed.展开更多
Over the last two decades wildfire activity, damage, and management cost within the US have increased substantially. These increases have been associated with a number of factors including climate change and fuel accu...Over the last two decades wildfire activity, damage, and management cost within the US have increased substantially. These increases have been associated with a number of factors including climate change and fuel accumulation due to a century of active fire suppression. The increased fire activity has occurred during a time of significant ex-urban development of the Wildland Urban Interface （WUI） along with increased demand on water resources originating on forested landscapes. These increased demands have put substantial pressure on federal agencies charged with wildfire management to continue and expand the century old policy of aggressive wildfire suppression. However, aggressive wildfire suppression is one of the major factors that drive the increased extent, intensity, and damage associated with the small number of large wildfires that are unable to be suppressed. In this paper we discuss the positive feedback loops that lead to demands for increasing suppression response while simultaneously increasing wildfire risk in the future. Despite a wealth of scientific research that demonstrates the limitations of the current management paradigm pressure to maintain the existing system are well entrenched and driven by the existing social systems that have evolved under our current management practice. Interestingly, US federal wildland fire policy provides considerable discretion for managers to pursue a range of management objectives however, societal expectations and existing management incentive structures result in policy implementation that is straining the resilience of fire adapted ecosystems and the communities that reside in and adjacent to them.展开更多
文摘Southern Europe is a highly fire-prone region where extreme fires have often disastrous consequences on both structures and people.Human activities and fire weather conditions favouring ignitions and propagation have always been the drivers of such fires but anthropogenic climate change alongside the extension of wildland-urban interface(WUI)that concentrates both assets and fire ignitions have the compounding effect of exacerbating fire risk.WUI are currently not adequately prepared to sustain events whose frequency and intensity are foreseen to increase in the future as shown during the extreme fires that occurred recently in Euro-Mediterranean countries.This work presents the context of WUI fires in the Euro-Mediterranean region,their driving forces and their impacts on society,with insights from three recent catastrophic fires that drew much attention.In this context,we propose a conceptual framework for understanding the WUI issue assessing the implications for fire risk and providing some guidance to mitigate this risk,updated management strategies as well as comments about gaps in our current knowledge and how we might address this problem in the future.A successful approach to reduce fire risk in the future will require building resilient landscapes and communities better prepared to face these extreme fire events in which WUI population,forest managers,land planners,civil protection,and policy-makers need to work together to improve the safety and resilience of these fire-prone areas.
文摘Post-incident studies provide direct and valuable information to further the scientific understanding of Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)fires.Most post-incident studies involve data collection in the field(i.e.a“research field deployment”).In this review,technical reports of post-incident studies for WUI fire and other natural disasters were analyzed and professionals directly involved in WUI fire research field deployments were interviewed.The goal of this review is to provide a resource for future WUI studies regarding the development of safe and effective fieldwork procedures,the collection and integration of accurate and relevant data,and the establishment of practical lessons learned.Three main stages of WUI fire post-incident studies are identified and described in detail.Data collection methodologies,data attributes,logistical practices and lessons-learned were compiled from various past studies and are presented here in the context of application to WUI fire.
基金This research was partially funded by the European Union Civil Pro-tection(Project GA 826522 WUIVIEW UCPM-2018-PP-AG)the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness(Project CTQ2017-85990-R,co-financed with FEDER funds)the Autonomous Government of Catalonia(project no.2017-SGR-392).
文摘Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI)are becoming increasingly hazardous for life safety and property protection.Guidelines and standards for fire practitioners are needed in order to help WUI communities face this threat and become fire-adapted.A performance-based design approach(PBD)is proposed to deal with the complex issues present at the WUI homeowner scale,which entails the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)tools such as FDS in order to identify vulnerabilities in a quantitative manner.An analysis of recent European WUI fires is presented,along with the definition of several pattern scenarios that can be derived from these.Based on this analysis,examples of PBD fire scenarios specific for the Mediterranean WUI microscale are presented,involving glazing systems,roofing and gutters,external structures adjacent to the main building,and gaps present in the building envelope.A worked example to show the implementation of the proposed PBD method is provided in which the fire impact of residential fuel on a glazing system is quantitatively analysed.
文摘Over the last two decades wildfire activity, damage, and management cost within the US have increased substantially. These increases have been associated with a number of factors including climate change and fuel accumulation due to a century of active fire suppression. The increased fire activity has occurred during a time of significant ex-urban development of the Wildland Urban Interface （WUI） along with increased demand on water resources originating on forested landscapes. These increased demands have put substantial pressure on federal agencies charged with wildfire management to continue and expand the century old policy of aggressive wildfire suppression. However, aggressive wildfire suppression is one of the major factors that drive the increased extent, intensity, and damage associated with the small number of large wildfires that are unable to be suppressed. In this paper we discuss the positive feedback loops that lead to demands for increasing suppression response while simultaneously increasing wildfire risk in the future. Despite a wealth of scientific research that demonstrates the limitations of the current management paradigm pressure to maintain the existing system are well entrenched and driven by the existing social systems that have evolved under our current management practice. Interestingly, US federal wildland fire policy provides considerable discretion for managers to pursue a range of management objectives however, societal expectations and existing management incentive structures result in policy implementation that is straining the resilience of fire adapted ecosystems and the communities that reside in and adjacent to them.
