Extreme Wildfire Events and Disasters: Root Causes and New Management Strategies

Description

Extreme Wildfire Events and Disasters: Root Causes and New Management Strategies highlights the urgent need for new methods to prepare and mitigate the effects of these events. Using a multidisciplinary, socio-ecological approach, the book discusses the roots of the problem, presenting a new, innovative approach to wildfire mitigation based on the operational concept of Fire Smart Territory (FST). Under the guidance of its expert editors, the book highlights new ways to prevent and respond to extreme wildfire events and disasters through sustainable development, thus revealing better management methods and increasing protection of both the natural environment and the vulnerable communities within it. Extreme Wildfire Events and Disasters Copyright Contributors Acknowledgments 1 - Extreme wildfire events: The definition 1.1 Extreme wildfires: A true challenge for societies 1.1.1 An escalating worldwide problem 1.1.2 The need of a standardized definition 1.2 EWE definition and rationale 1.2.1 EWE definition 1.2.2 EWE definition rationale 1.2.2.1 The physical properties of EWEs 1.2.2.2 The duration of an EWE 1.2.2.3 The constraints of wildfire size 1.2.2.4 EWE consequences are place-dependent 1.2.2.5 EWE and disaster 1.3 A wildfire classification: Integrating fire intensity with potential consequences 1.4 Conclusion References 2 - Extreme wildfires and disasters around the world: lessons to be learned 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Extreme wildfire cases in Portugal 2.2.1 The fires of Picões and Caramulo (2013) 2.2.1.1 Picões (July 8th to 12th) 2.2.1.2 Caramulo (August 20th to 30th) 2.2.2 The firestorms of 2017 2.2.2.1 Pedrógão Grande complex of fire events (June 17th to 22nd) 2.2.2.2 October 15th fires, in central Portugal (October 15th to 22nd) 2.2.2.2.1 Extreme wildfire event of Seia 2.2.2.2.2 Extreme wildfire event of Lousã 2.2.2.2.3 Extreme wildfire event of Oliveira do Hospital 2.2.2.2.4 Extreme wildfire event of Sertã 2.2.2.2.5 Extreme wildfire event of Vouzela 2.3 Extreme wildfire cases in the world 2.3.1 Greece 2.3.2 Italy 2.3.2.1 Peschici Fire 2.3.2.2 Laconi (Bidda Beccia) fire 2.3.3 Australia 2.3.4 USA—Gatlinburg wildfires risk/crisis communications lessons learned 2.3.5 Canada—2016 Horse River (Fort McMurray) fire 2.4 Conclusion References 3 - The role of weather and climate conditions on extreme wildfires 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The influence of climate 3.2.1 Fire and climate patterns 3.2.2 Fire incidence seasonality 3.2.3 Existence, life cycle, and type of vegetation cover 3.3 The role of weather 3.3.1 Physiological state of the vegetation 3.3.2 Fire weather for ignition, spread, and extinction 3.3.3 The influence of ridges, blockings, and other synoptic patterns 3.3.4 Wildfire teleconnections 3.4 The role of climatic and weather extreme events 3.4.1 Drought period 3.4.2 Effects of heatwaves 3.5 Fire weather danger and risk rating 3.5.1 Fire danger rating 3.5.2 The Canadian Fire Weather Index 3.5.3 Fire danger rating for operational and research purposes 3.6 Climate change: The future of extreme wildfires 3.6.1 Climate change projections 3.6.2 Robust projections for the future 3.7 Concluding remarks References 4 - The relation of landscape characteristics, human settlements, spatial planning, and fuel management with extreme wildfires 4.1 Introduction 4.2 France 4.2.1 Landscape and property 4.2.2 Property and land management 4.2.3 Spatial planning 4.2.4 Uses of fire and fire regulations 4.3 Portugal 4.3.1 Landscape and property 4.3.2 Spatial planning 4.3.3 Uses of fire and fire regulations 4.3.4 Prevention and fuel management 4.4 The United States of America 4.4.1 Landscape and property 4.4.2 Spatial planning 4.4.3 Uses of fire and fire regulations 4.5 Conclusion References 5 - Safety enhancement in extreme wildfire events 5.1 Wildfire disasters: Trends and patterns 5.2 Causes and circumstances leading to fatalities 5.2.1 Causes of death 5.2.2 Mechanisms conducting to fatalities 5.2.3 Circumstances of fatalities 5.2.3.1 Entrapment and burnover 5.2.3.2 Last-minute evacuation 5.2.3.3 Buildings loss 5.2.3.4 People vulnerability, attitudes, and behaviors 5.3 The safety protocols 5.3.1 For operational staff 5.3.2 Wildfire safety policies for civilians 5.3.2.1 In Europe 5.3.2.2 In North America and Australia 5.4 BESAFE: A safety framework for citizens 5.4.1 Before the fire 5.4.2 During the fire 5.4.3 After the fire 5.5 Conclusion References 6 - Firefighting approaches and extreme wildfires 6.1 Wildfire fighting approaches 6.1.1 Development history 6.1.2 How firefighting approaches are different and why 6.1.2.1 Emphasis and capacity for indirect attack 6.1.2.2 Professional versus volunteer 6.1.2.3 Emphasis to ground versus aerial firefighting 6.1.2.4 Type of organization (land management vs. urban/civil protection) 6.1.3 Examples of currently existing organizational and firefighting approaches 6.1.3.1 Greece 6.1.3.2 Italy 6.1.3.3 Portugal 6.1.4 United Kingdom 6.2 Effectiveness and efficiency considerations 6.3 Firefighting approaches regarding extreme wildfires 6.4 Conclusions References 7 - The suppression model fragilities: The “firefighting trap” 7.1 The dominant fire management approach today: The wildfire suppression model 7.1.1 Wildfire suppression model: rationale 7.1.2 Suppression model dominance: why is this model so widely accepted? 7.2 Assessment of the fire suppression model 7.2.1 The failures of the fire suppression model 7.2.2 Weaknesses of the suppression model 7.2.2.1 Operational limits 7.2.2.2 Lack of integration with prevention 7.2.2.3 Reduced attention to fire causes 7.2.2.4 Lack of communities' engagement 7.2.2.5 Lack of awareness 7.2.2.6 Building resilience 7.2.2.7 Short-term perspective 7.2.3 The firefighting trap 7.3 A proactive model as a possible alternative 7.4 Conclusions References 8 - Understanding wildfire mitigation and preparedness in the context of extreme wildfires and disasters: Social science contributions to understanding human response to wildfire 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Social science theoretical insights into preparedness and mitigation 8.2.1 Natural hazards 8.2.2 Societal stages of response to natural hazards 8.2.3 Wildfire preparedness/mitigation measures 8.2.4 Societal (macroscale) 8.2.5 Intervening or mid-level factors (mesoscale) 8.2.6 Individual/household (micro) scale 8.3 Factors that influence individual protective action decisions, with reference to specific fire research findings 8.3.1 Risk interpretation 8.3.2 Experience 8.3.3 Efficacy (response and self) 8.3.4 Wildfire-specific considerations 8.3.5 Nonwildfire considerations 8.3.6 Evacuation decisions 8.4 Diffusion of innovations 8.4.1 Preventive innovations 8.4.2 Characteristics that influence adoption of new practices 8.4.3 Change agents 8.5 Risk and crisis communication 8.5.1 Interactive processes 8.5.2 Trust 8.5.3 Local context 8.6 Conclusion References 9 - Resident and community recovery after wildfires 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Disaster recovery frameworks 9.3 Wildfire recovery: Residents 9.3.1 Honeymoon period 9.3.2 Disillusionment 9.3.3 Reconstruction 9.4 Wildfire recovery: Community 9.4.1 Early Restoration 9.4.2 Building back better 9.5 Conclusion References 10 - Wildfire policies contribution to foster extreme wildfires 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Shaping wildfire disasters through misguided policy 10.3 The perpetuation of misguided fire policies 10.4 Transforming fire management policies 10.5 Conclusion Acknowledgments References 11 - Fire Smart Territory as an innovative approach to wildfire risk reduction 11.1 The wildfire paradoxes 11.2 Wildfires: An unsolved problem 11.3 Communities and wildfires: How to reduce losses? 11.4 Fire Smart Territory as a model to “thrive with fire” 11.4.1 The advantages of territory scale 11.4.2 Fire Smart Territory: The definition 11.4.3 FST components 11.4.4 FST: SWOT analysis 11.5 Conclusion References 12 - How to create a change in wildfire policies 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The origins of suppression policy 12.3 Wildfire research and policies 12.3.1 Origins of wildfire research 12.3.2 Changes in US wildfire policies 12.3.3 The resistance to change: The example of Italy 12.4 How to create a change in wildfire policies 12.4.1 Awareness of the wildfire nature: The pyrometrics 12.4.2 Recognition of the limits of suppression activities and making citizens aware of it 12.5 Conclusions References 13 - What can we do differently about the extreme wildfire problem: An overview 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Looking for a new paradigm of wildfire management: Existing ideas and proposals 13.2.1 The dual role of fire 13.2.2 Strategic fuel management 13.2.3 The socioecological nature of wildfires 13.2.4 Integrated fire management and community-based fire management 13.2.5 Comprehensive strategies and frameworks 13.2.6 Build wildfire resilience 13.2.7 The road ahead 13.3 The Shared Wildfire Governance paradigm and framework 13.3.1 The arguments of Shared Wildfire Governance paradigm and framework 13.3.2 The description of Shared Wildfire Governance framework 13.3.3 The strengths of Shared Wildfire Governance paradigm 13.4 Next steps References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z