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Optimizing Resource Allocation in Fire Departments (RAFD) is crucial for enhancing Fire Protection Services (FPS) and ultimately saving lives. Efficient RAFD ensures that fire departments have the necessary resources to respond effectively to emergencies. This paper presents a method for optimizing RAFD based on performance assessment results, examining its impact on Fire Department (FD) efficiency in Portugal. Evaluating data from 353 FDs, two RAFD optimization methods were assessed: one adhering to Portuguese regulations and constraints, such as budget allocation limitations, and another without such constraints. Integrating a slack-based data envelopment analysis model and mixed-integer linear programming, the study found that incorporating FD efficiency scores in RAFD improved overall efficiency at national, district, and FD levels. While adherence to Portuguese regulations led to balanced resource allocation and a 4% performance improvement at the national level, relaxing constraints yielded an 8% improvement, albeit with potential performance deterioration in some FDs. The detailed budget and efficiency metric analysis provided in this paper offers actionable insights for fire protection services enhancement. This underscores the importance of diverse optimization strategies to enhance FD efficiency, with implications for decision-makers at the Portuguese National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection and similar organizations globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfire risk assessment provides important tools to fire management, by analysing and aggregating information regarding multiple, interactive dimensions. The three main risk dimensions hazard, exposure and vulnerability, the latter considered in its social dimension, were quantified separately at the local scale for 972 civil parishes in central mainland Portugal and integrated into a wildfire risk index. The importance of each component in the level of risk varied, as assessed by a cluster analysis that established five different groups of parishes, each with a specific profile regarding the relative importance of each dimension. The highest values of wildfire risk are concentrated in the centre-south sector of the study area, with high-risk parishes also dispersed in the northeast. Wildfire risk level is dominated by the hazard component in 52% of the parishes, although with contrasting levels of magnitude. Exposure and social vulnerability dominate together in 32% of the parishes, with the latter being the main risk driver in only 17%. The proposed methodology allows for an integrated, multilevel assessment of wildfire risk, facilitating the effective allocation of resources and the adjustment of risk reduction policies to the specific reality in each parish that results from distinct combinations of the wildfire risk dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk mapping is a crucial part of spatial planning, as it optimizes the allocation of resources in its management. It is, therefore, of great interest to build tools that enhance its production. This work focuses on the implementation of a susceptibility model for different types of spatially distributed risk in a geographic information systems (GIS) Python plugin. As an example, the susceptibility model was applied to study the occurrence of wildfires in the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Portugal. The plugin was developed to simplify the production and evaluation of susceptibility maps regarding the available geographical information. Regarding our case study, the data used corresponds to three training areas, ten years of burned areas and nine environmental variables. The model is applied to different combinations of these factors. The validation, performed with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 74% for a fire susceptibility model, calculated with the same environmental factors used in official Portuguese cartography (land use and slope) and with the optimal training area, years of information on burned area and level of land use classification. After experimenting with four variable combinations, a maximum AUC of 77% was achieved. This study confirms the suitability of the variables chosen for the production of official fire susceptibility models but leaves out the comparison between the official methodology and the methodology proposed in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of urban area is complex and has been discussed for many years by several authors and organisations through different perspectives and methodological approaches. For administrative and comparison purposes statistical institutions, both at the national and international levels, classify territories according to a certain degree of urbanisation defining typologies from which indicators and certain public policies are applied. The purpose of this study is to discuss the relevance and suitability of different urban typologies. Through mapping and measuring the data of official documents, the urban dimension of Mainland Portuguese territory is discussed and its usefulness concerning the allocation of resources for promoting territorial cohesion is stressed. Results show the inadequacy of these classifications to inform planning actions, decision making, and to promote territorial policies. It also provides evidence of inaccuracies that distort the reading of the territorial reality of the case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]