Back to Search
Start Over
Fuel and topographic influences on wildland firefighter burnover fatalities in Southern California
- Source :
- International Journal of Wildland Fire. 27:141
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- CSIRO Publishing, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Previous reviews of wildfires where a fatal firefighter burnover occurred have found that the incidents usually share similar characteristics in terms of the fire environment, such as steep slopes and complex topography (e.g. box canyons). Despite these similarities, systematic identification and communication of the locations where these conditions prevail are rare. In this study we used a presence-only machine-learning algorithm (Maximum Entropy, MaxEnt) coupled with spatial location information from past fatal firefighter burnovers to identify and characterise the environmental variables that are likely to produce conditions suitable for a fatal burnover. Southern California was chosen to conduct the analysis as it has a well-documented history of past fatal firefighter burnovers and a complex fire environment. Steep, south-west-oriented slopes located in canyons with a shrub fuel type were found to be the most dangerous locations for firefighters. The relative danger to firefighters from a fatal burnover is described and summarised at both the 30-m pixel and local watershed scale.
- Subjects :
- 040101 forestry
0106 biological sciences
Canyon
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Complex topography
Ecology
ved/biology
ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species
Forestry
Fuel type
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Shrub
Watershed scale
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Physical geography
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10498001
- Volume :
- 27
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Wildland Fire
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........6626b916a7b5b09a2c49a85ccbe9ce5f
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1071/wf17147