A methodology for determining operational priorities for prevention and suppression of wildland fires
Francisco Rodríguez y Silva A , Juan Ramón Molina Martínez A and Armando González-Cabán B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Forest Engineering, University of Córdoba, Edificio Leonardo da Vinci, Campus de Rabanales, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain.
B United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 4955 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA 92507, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: agonzalezcaban@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 23(4) 544-554 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF13063
Submitted: 16 April 2013 Accepted: 4 February 2014 Published: 15 May 2014
Abstract
Traditional uses of the forest (timber, forage) have been giving way to other uses more in demand (recreation, ecosystem services). An observable consequence of this process of forest land use conversion is an increase in more difficult and extreme wildfires. Wildland forest management and protection program budgets are limited, and managers are requesting help in finding ways to objectively assign their limited protection resources based on the intrinsic environmental characteristics of a site and the site’s interrelationship with available firefighting resources and existing infrastructure. A Fire Suppression Priority Index, integrating information on both the potential fire behaviour risk (Potential Fire Behaviour Index) and the fire suppression difficulty (Suppression Difficulty Index), provides managers with fundamental information for strategic planning and development of tactical operations to protect the natural environment. Results in the Córdoba Province, Andalusia’s autonomous region, Spain, showed a statistically significant relationship between wildfire size and all three indices, demonstrating the utility of the methodology to identify and prioritise forest areas for strategic and tactical fire management operations. In addition, the methodology was tested and validated by trained and qualified wildfire management personnel in Chile and Israel, obtaining similar results as in Spain.
Additional keywords: strategic fire management planning, wildfire behaviour, wildfire risk, wildfire suppression difficulty.
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