Wildfires are outdoor fires that occur in the wilderness or other vast spaces.Federal Fire and Aviation Operations Action Plan, 4. Other common names associated with wildfires are brushfire and forest fire. Since wildfires can occur anywhere on the planet, except for Antarctica, they pose a threat to civilizations and wildlife alike. In terms of emergency management, wildfires can be particularly devastating. Given their ability to destroy large areas of entire ecosystems, there must be a contingency plan in effect to be as prepared as possible in case of a wildfire and to be adequately prepared to handle the aftermath of one as well.
Emergency management has four distinct phases that create the management process. These phases are mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. While each phase has a distinct role in the emergency management process, there are aspects of each that interconnect with others. A management process without any one of the four phases could be deemed incomplete and inadequate.Sylves, p. 21. Mitigation is easily defined as prevention. Preparedness is the act of changing behaviors or processes to reduce the impact a disaster may have on a population or group. Response is assembling teams or units of emergency service to the area of disaster. Finally, recovery aims to restore the area affected by the disaster to its condition prior to the disaster.Sylves, p. 24.
Introduction In order to exercise efficient emergency management, states susceptible to wildfires have collaborated to develop the Firewise Communities USA Recognition Program. The Firewise Communities Program focuses on reducing the loss of life and property, in terms of wildfires, by providing resources to allow communities to build responsibly in natural surroundings and assist one another in preparing for as well as recovering from wildfire. Communities enrolled in the Firewise Communities Program are bound to mitigation guidelines, which require firewise communities to develop and implement action plans to make properties safer from wildfire. Firewise communities organize community members in scheduled meetings to connect citizens to fire fighters, wildfire researchers, and state forestry personnel to educate citizens in terms of wildfire risks. Thereby, informing citizens of risk factors for the development of wildfires and how to prevent as well as prepare for a wildfire. In terms of recovery, firewise communities receive preferential treatment and tend to acquire additional resources and emergency assistance after a wildfire. To be eligible for a membership in the FireWise Communities Program, a community must verify susceptibility to wildfire by acquiring a wildfire risk assessment from the local fire department or forest service. Then, the community must form a firewise committee and action plan as well as contribute two dollars per capita toward firewise activities. Finally, the community submits a membership application to a firewise associate to be considered for recognition as a firewise community. There are currently 40 states with communities recognized as members of the Firewise Communities Program, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and North Carolina.
Causes and effects of wildfires
Wildfires are different from other fires in their size, speed, and unpredictability. Wildfires can occur due to natural or man-made elements. The four most common natural elements that can cause a wildfire are lightning, an eruption from a volcano, sparks from a rockfall, and spontaneous combustion. The most common man-made causes for wildfires include debris burning or other carelessness and arson. While not as common as arson or intentionally starting a fire, the improper disposal of a cigarette can cause a fire that could become uncontrollable.Causes of Wildfires The most dominant cause of wildfires differs around the globe. Within the United States, the most common natural cause for wildfires has been found to be lightning strikes. Across the world, however, intentional ignition can be identified as the most common man-made cause for uncontrollable fires.
According to the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS), during 2010 there were 4,053 separate wildfires in North Carolina, which burnt a total of 14,095 acres. They report the cause of the largest number of wildfires for 2010 was the intentional burning of debris, which resulted in 1,617 wildfires. Incendiary substances, (such as gasoline or propane) were involved in another 805, and the use of machinery a further 435. NCFS also indicate 162 of the wildfires in 2010 were caused by smoking, 69 were caused by lightning, and 34 were the result of poorly managed campfires or other camping-related activities. Determining the causes of wildfires is integral to understanding how wildfires develop, which allows for the development of preventative measures to reduce wildfire vulnerability and minimize harmful effects.The Fire Triangle , Hants Fire brigade In terms of wildfires, there is often a vast amount of combustible materials to sustain a burn for en extended amount of time. Areas that are higher in moisture, such as dense forests, are less susceptible to burn as they have a natural provision of shade and humidity, which both can delay ignition.Graham, R., McCaffrey, S., Jain, T.B., "Science Basis for Changing Forest Structure to Modify Wildfire Behavior and Severity", General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-120, 2004 Wildfires have what are known as fronts which is the portion of the fire that meets new, unburned material, providing additional fuel for the oncoming fire.Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology, 74. Wildfires can also move at an incredible pace; in forests and densely wooded areas, wildfires can burn at a rate of almost 7 miles per hour.Billing, P., "Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment.", Otways Fire No. 22 - 1982/83 Aspects of fire behaviour. Research Report No.20, 1983 Another threat of wildfires is their ability to jump. Embers and other ignited material such as leaves and other debris can be carried by the wind to an area that has not had any contact with the fire thus far. This could possibly ignite fire in a separate area, making the wildfire much more dangerous and more difficult to contain.Shea, N., "Under Fire", National Geographic, 2008
Whether a wildfire can be contained depends on the intensity at which the fire burns. In the United States, wildfire intensity is measured by the rate at which the fire spreads and the degree of combusted heat produced by the flames. There are two types of fire intensity: reaction intensity, which is determined by the amount of heat released by the fire per unit of area burned and fire line intensity, which is determined by the length of the flames at the edge of the fire and height of scorch marks on affected trees. Higher scorch marks result from highly intense fires and typically cause trees to deteriorate significantly to the point of needing to be removed from the burned area. In addition to consuming trees, more intense wildfires tend to produce substantial amounts of smoke by consuming flammable material located on the ground. Flammable ground litter, also referred to as duff, that has less moisture contributes to the complete destruction of groundcover, which directly contributes to soil burning and erosion. The types and amount of ground litter directly influence the intensity of a wildfire. For instance, a wildfire requires 12 tons of pine litter to burn at high intensity whereas a high intensity wildfire would only require 7 tons of hardwood litter. However, wildfires require 60 tons of heavily chopped debris to burn at high intensity, but only require 40 tons of medium chopped debris for high intensity fuel. As explained further in the recovery section of this article, the burning intensity of a wildfire determines the extent of the damage caused by the fire and influences the recovery strategies utilized by emergency management personnel.
Mitigation
Mitigation efforts are taken to prevent events from becoming disasters and from preventing disasters from occurring completely. Mitigation is the efforts that are taken to ensure that the loss of life and property is limited in the event of a disaster. The North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS) emphasizes measures North Carolina residents and visitors can take in order to effectively prevent the development of man-made wildfires. NCFS personnel suggest not setting fires on dry, windy days because dry debris can ignite easily and lighter debris, such as grass and leaves, can be easily transported via the wind. Therefore, individuals are encouraged to avoid burning lighter debris, which could be better utilized as compost. Individuals are also encouraged to grind out cigarettes in dirt as opposed to on tree stumps or other debris and to dispose of cigarettes in vehicle ash trays. In addition to limited burning and disposal of burnt matter, NCFS suggest individuals monitor the intentional burning of acres and keep materials handy for eliminating the fire, such as water and shoveled dirt. Meanwhile, NCFS campfire guidelines indicate campers should construct small campfires with small amounts of debris and only add additional, larger debris as the fire grows. Campers are also instructed to maintain a 10-foot diameter clearing around the campfire to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding debris and to never leave a campfire unattended. The campfire should be continually monitored with water and shoveled dirt handy in the event the fire becomes uncontrollable. Thereby, preventing minimal or contained fires from developing into devastating wildfires.
The NCFS uses a database referred to as "signal 14" to monitor the daily fire activity in the state of North Carolina. The data contained within the signal 14 database is an estimation of the occurrence of wildfires throughout the state, with the exception of wildfires located on federal property. For instance, signal 14 statistics indicate approximately 1,252 wildfires occurred between January and April 2012, of which 45 occurred in April. The NCFS tracks wildfires in order to map out areas where wildfires occur and assess which areas are more prone to the development of wildfires. In terms of mapping wildfires, North Carolina is divided into twelve districts and each one contributes daily counts of any wildfires to the signal 14 database. Thereby, assisting the NCFS in determining the vulnerability, of each district, to wildfires.
Hazard Mitigation Methodology (United States) In 2022 the National Institute of Standards and Technology introduced the Hazard Mitigation Methodology (HMM), a science-based framework that helps wildland–urban interface (WUI) communities harden homes so they can survive wildfire without relying solely on suppression. HMM maps ember and flame pathways across adjoining parcels and ranks retrofit actions—such as ember-resistant vents, non-combustible fencing and strategic vegetation spacing—according to cost-effectiveness. The methodology stresses that even a single unprotected element can permit ignition, so neighbouring houses must be treated as an interconnected fuel bed rather than isolated structures.
Bush-fire mitigation in Australia