Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

The International Conference on Forest Fire Research (ICFFR; www.adai.pt/icffr) has established itself as one of the most relevant forums worldwide for promoting science and technology exchange alongside state-of-the-art wildfire research. Gathering in Coimbra, Portugal, every 4 years since 1990, it brings together the most prominent scientists of the wildland fire research community. The 9th conference will take place in November 2022 and, once again, it will cover a broad range of subjects, as is shown by its Topics list, and aims to investigate the different aspects of wildfire management, from preparedness to response, mitigation and recovery. We highlight that submissions for this MDPI Topic Collection are restricted to Conference attendees only.

The Topics for original papers aim to cover all aspects of wildfires and include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Decision support systems and tools;
• Fire at the wildland urban interface;
• Wildfire risk assessment;
• Wildfire risk reduction;
• Wildfire risk adaptation;
• Wildfire management and safety.

We welcome you to share your up-to-date knowledge, developed by you and/or your research group, with the 9th ICFFR, hoping that we will collect valuable contributions to create a unique Topic collection in MDPI journals.

Dr. Miguel G. Cruz
Dr. Alexander I. Filkov
Dr. Cristina Vega
Dr. Gilberto Vaz
Dr. Marielle Jappiot
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Applied Sciences applsci	2.5	5.3	2011	18.4 Days	CHF 2400
Climate climate	3.0	5.5	2013	19.7 Days	CHF 1800
Fire fire	3.0	3.1	2018	16.5 Days	CHF 2400
Forests forests	2.4	4.4	2010	16.2 Days	CHF 2600
Land land	3.2	4.9	2012	16.9 Days	CHF 2600
Remote Sensing remotesensing	4.2	8.3	2009	23.9 Days	CHF 2700

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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All Applied Sciences Climate Fire Forests Land Remote Sensing

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14 pages, 1641 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Initial Assessment of Fire Response Time between Different Categories of Fire Stations in Malaysia

by Wan Nursheila Wan Jusoh, Ahmad Faiz Tharima, Wahyunah Ghani, Nur Hafizah Mohamad Lukman, Sunthaar Visvasathan, Mohd Hafizi Shamsudin, Nurul Zuhairah Mahmud Zuhudi and Nurhayati Mohd Nur

Fire 2023, 6(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6010006 - 27 Dec 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6216

Abstract

Response time is an important factor in fire operations. A continuous assessment of response time is crucial in order to monitor firefighters’ performance level. An initial assessment of fire response time was conducted for fire stations in categories A-D throughout Malaysia from 2018 [...] Read more.

Response time is an important factor in fire operations. A continuous assessment of response time is crucial in order to monitor firefighters’ performance level. An initial assessment of fire response time was conducted for fire stations in categories A-D throughout Malaysia from 2018 to 2020. The categories were determined based on risk profiling scores. In this study, the mean response time and distance travelled for the selected fire stations were calculated. To measure the fire station’s performance, a 10 min standard response time was used as a benchmark. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also applied to statistically determine any significant differences between mean response time and mean distance travelled. Among the four categories, category C and D fire stations recorded high values for mean distance travelled and mean response time. Category C fire stations recorded the mean response time, at 15.1 min, and distance travelled, 20.1 km. The areas where category D fire stations are located have low population density, resulting in greater coverage for the stations. Most of the fire stations in this category had approximately 13.8 km travel distance with a mean response time of 17.9 min. Category C and D fire stations require a substantial amount of time to reach incident locations due to the low-quality road network and the local topography. A new profiling method for minimizing fire risk based on constant development in these areas might be necessary for future improvement. Additionally, new category C and D fire stations would meet the demands of expanding communities. It is important to note that establishing a demand zone in Malaysia with specific response time could give a better indication of firefighters’ performance in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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15 pages, 3691 KiB  

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Using Participatory Mapping to Foster Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction in Forest Fire-Prone Areas: The Case of Monchique in Portugal

by Maria Partidário, Guilherme Saad, Margarida B. Monteiro, Joana Dias, Rute Martins, Isabel Loupa Ramos, Henrique Ribeiro, Miguel Teixeira, Maria de Belém Costa Freitas and Carla Antunes

Fire 2022, 5(5), 146; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050146 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6200

Abstract

Local knowledge and communities’ active role in disaster risk areas are recognized in the literature as key conditions to better understand risks, enhance adaptive capacities and foster local resilience. A participatory action research project in forest fire-prone areas in Monchique, Portugal, is aligned [...] Read more.

Local knowledge and communities’ active role in disaster risk areas are recognized in the literature as key conditions to better understand risks, enhance adaptive capacities and foster local resilience. A participatory action research project in forest fire-prone areas in Monchique, Portugal, is aligned with the literature and adopts participatory mapping as a method that can bring evidence to the importance of local knowledge and communities’ agency. In the BRIDGE Project, different types of knowledge are integrated, triggering local/collective agency and fostering a forest fire community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) approach. An innovation laboratory (InnoLab) provides the space for dialogue and knowledge sharing for different actors that manage forest territories. In the InnoLab, participatory mapping is used as a method to engage landowners where risk factors and local vulnerabilities were identified. Their active engagement enabled a collective perception in the assessment of vulnerability and led to the identification of strategic measures for risk reduction. This paper shares the process and outcomes of this participatory mapping, highlighting the benefits of a community approach and the importance of local knowledge and practices as recognized in the literature. It also reveals how the active role of local stakeholders can help drive a CBDRR process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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15 pages, 10683 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Rigid Protection System of Infrastructures against Forest Fires

by Gilberto Vaz, Jorge Raposo, Luís Reis, Pedro Monteiro and Domingos Viegas

Fire 2022, 5(5), 145; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050145 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2919

Abstract

The destruction caused by forest fires generates social impacts, environmental impacts, and extremely important economic impacts caused by the destruction of a wide range of infrastructures and essential goods. Therefore, as it is impossible to remove all the infrastructures from the forest and [...] Read more.

The destruction caused by forest fires generates social impacts, environmental impacts, and extremely important economic impacts caused by the destruction of a wide range of infrastructures and essential goods. Therefore, as it is impossible to remove all the infrastructures from the forest and wildland–urban interface, the design of protection systems is essential. The main objective of this work is the development of a low-cost protection system, with rigid panels, requiring a simple installation, in order to protect outdoor infrastructures such as telecommunications stations, shelters, roadside enclosures, power cabinets, and other structures. A study was carried out on panels that could be used for protection in order to determine whether the protective material would be more appropriate. Taking into account the fire resistance behavior, thermal and structural properties and cost, the panels selected were the magnesium oxide fiberglass reinforced. The protection was constructed, installed on a telecommunication cabinet, and experimentally laboratory tested in a wind combustion tunnel. To collect the data InfraRed and video cameras, heat flux sensors, and thermocouples were used to determine the fire propagation, heat flux, and temperatures, respectively. The experimental data show that the low-cost protection is effective for protecting telecommunication cabinets and similar infrastructures against forest fires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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22 pages, 5095 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Fire Regime Analysis in Lebanon (2001–2020): Combining Remote Sensing Data in a Scarcely Documented Area

by Georgia Majdalani, Nikos Koutsias, Ghaleb Faour, Jocelyne Adjizian-Gerard and Florent Mouillot

Fire 2022, 5(5), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050141 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4266

Abstract

Fire is a recurrent disturbance in Mediterranean ecosystems. Data assemblage from forest fire services can provide useful information for understanding climate controls on daily fire hazard or long term trends. Located at the driest range of the Mediterranean bioclimate, and with contrasting socio-political [...] Read more.

Fire is a recurrent disturbance in Mediterranean ecosystems. Data assemblage from forest fire services can provide useful information for understanding climate controls on daily fire hazard or long term trends. Located at the driest range of the Mediterranean bioclimate, and with contrasting socio-political systems compared to the European area, the southern Mediterranean ecosystems are subjected to more extreme climate and social events. This could potentially lead to unique fire regimes and trends worth being characterized for prevention plans and ecosystem management. However, the region is far less documented, due to missing or inhomogeneous fire records, leaving local authorities with no management strategies when large fires happen. We filled this knowledge gap for Lebanon by combining high spatial resolution Landsat data with high temporal resolution VIIRS (S-NPP and NOAA-20) and MODIS (MCD14ML) hotspots to characterize the seasonal and interannual fire regime over the 2001–2020 period. Numerous small fires were hardly detected by global remote sensing. We estimated that 2044 ha burn annually, representing 0.58% of the wildland cover, with no significant trend over the period, but with non climate-related fires detected during the year experiencing socio-political troubles. The spatial and temporal resolution of this dataset identified a particular prolonged fire season up to November, and an unusual bimodal fire season peaking in July and November. We related these features to the prolonged autumnal soil drought and high August air humidity in the region. This updated fire regime in Lebanon illustrates the benefits of this combined approach for data-scarce regions and provides new insights on the variability of fire weather types in the Mediterranean basin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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26 pages, 5147 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Factors Influencing Risk during Wildfires: Contrasting Divergent Regions in the US

by Erin Noonan-Wright and Carl Seielstad

Fire 2022, 5(5), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050131 - 30 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2730

Abstract

(1) Background: Federal land managers in the US are charged with risk-based decision-making which requires them to know the risk and to direct resources accordingly. Without understanding the specific factors that produce risk, it is difficult to identify strategies to reduce it. (2) [...] Read more.

(1) Background: Federal land managers in the US are charged with risk-based decision-making which requires them to know the risk and to direct resources accordingly. Without understanding the specific factors that produce risk, it is difficult to identify strategies to reduce it. (2) Methods: Risk characterized by U.S. land managers during wildfires was evaluated from 2010–2017 to identify factors driving risk perceptions. Annotation from 282 wildfires in two regions with distinctive risk profiles, the Northwest and Southwest Geographic Areas, were qualitatively coded using the risk assessment framework of hazards, values, and probability from the Relative Risk Assessment in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS). (3) Results: The effects of climate on seasonal severity, fuel condition, and fire behavior emerged as the most influential factors driving risk perceptions and characterizations of risk in both regions. Monsoonal precipitation extended the longevity of landscape barriers, especially in the Southwest. The results suggest that a scarcity of values at risk and a mild fire environment produce low risk fires regardless of location, while high risk fires reflect specific local values and geography, under the umbrella of dry climate. (4) Conclusions: the climatic contrasts between the two regions highlight how influential climate change will be on future characterizations of wildfire risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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9 pages, 2291 KiB  

Open AccessCommunication

Firefighting: Challenges of Smart PPE

by Gilda Santos, Rita Marques, João Ribeiro, Adriana Moreira, Patricia Fernandes, Margarida Silva, André Fonseca, João M. Miranda, João B. L. M. Campos and Soraia F. Neves

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1319; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081319 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4297

Abstract

The continuous research and development regarding firefighters’ personal protective equipment (PPE) has led to significant improvements in recent decades. Despite the evolution of firefighters’ PPE, every year an undesirable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually [...] Read more.

The continuous research and development regarding firefighters’ personal protective equipment (PPE) has led to significant improvements in recent decades. Despite the evolution of firefighters’ PPE, every year an undesirable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their lives. The protection given by firefighters’ PPE can be further increased with the incorporation of smart textiles in the personal protective equipment, namely, wearable electronics (i.e., integrated sensors to monitor diverse parameters: heart rate, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide detector, and setting real-time communication with a command post) and advanced materials such as phase change materials (PCMs). The evolution of firefighters’ PPE has been followed by an evolution and update in the international and national standards that specify performance requirements for firefighters’ protective clothing for structural and wildland firefighting as well as technical rescue. This study will focus on the analysis of firefighters protective clothing evolution regarding the use and integration of advanced smart materials, namely, phase change materials, taking into consideration the evolution and requirements of international and European standards as well as national legislation for firefighters’ protective clothing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Breakthroughs in Forest Fire Research)

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