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Wildfire mitigation is a way to be prepared for wildfire

Fire science: in language for all
By Nemer Abusamha Imagine you are taking care of your house garden or your farm such as removing dead plants, rearranging the plants in a certain way, harvesting your land. Individuals are responsible for keeping their gardens in good shape and healthy. Wildfire mitigation is the implementation of certain methods to reduce the risk of the wildfire ignition and the impact of fores fires on wildlife, people, and structures. To mitigate that,  fuel treatments and fuel management such as thinning and pruning of trees and shrubs, have certain separation areas between plants in certain areas are common methods. Selecting certain […]
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Understanding flammability

Fire science: in language for all
By Simona Dossi Flammability is the property which describes how easily a material burns. Non-flammable materials never burn regardless of the conditions: sand, for example, doesn’t ignite but melts into glass at very high temperatures. Highly flammable materials, like gasoline, only require a spark to burst into flames. Wood’s flammability lies in between this spectrum. In addition to the material’s inherent chemical ability to ignite, flammability depends on its condition, geometry, and environment. The wood fuelling our chimneys demonstrates this clearly: Condition: Dry wood burns much more easily than damp wood Geometry: 1 kg of small thin twigs burn more […]
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What makes a community more vulnerable to fire?

Fire science: in language for all
By Carmen Rodríguez Traditionally, in the fire field – listening to the term “community vulnerable to fire” makes us think of a wildland-urban interface (WUI) with wooden houses and a lot of highly flammable trees in a fire-prone area. However, the more Social Science we bring on board to the forest fire debate, the more we realize how narrow that vision is. There is a biophysical component to vulnerability, of course, but there are other economic and especially social considerations that are very often not taken into account. The Hyogo Framework for Action defines vulnerability as: “The conditions determined by […]
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Integrated Fire Management (IFM) reduces unwanted fires

Fire science: in language for all
Written by Kerryn Little  Fire has a wide range of impacts, both positive and negative, on people, the environment and the economy. Integrated Fire Management (IFM) is therefore a system that evaluates the potential consequences (positive and negative) of wildfire, in order to make decisions that will promote the beneficial use of wildfire, while reducing any negative impacts from unwanted fires. These decisions affect many different groups of people. Therefore, IFM seeks to include everyone involved in this decision-making process, such as communities living with wildfire, land managers and government agencies, and incorporate both traditional and technical methods of managing […]
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If you were to put the most important pieces of your life in a box and drive away, what would it contain?

Fire science: in language for all
By Bethany E. Hannah For me, I’d put my three cats, family photos, my hard drive (I spend a lot of time on the computer), legal documents, and maybe a few cherished knick-knacks that bring good memories.  Would you remember all of your important things if you only had five minutes to pack your box and leave?  Personal preparedness for disasters and events such as wildfires is important. Make a plan for evacuation that considers what you would bring, where you would shelter, which route you would take and how you would communicate with your loved ones.  Remember to include […]
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