Greater fires have recently been recorded in Northwest Europe. Knowing the status of fire in this area is critical because several climate projections show that fire activity will increase in this temperate area in the future. Unknowns regarding the fire regime in northwest Europe are revealed by this study by characterizing key aspects of fire behavior: The Rate of spread and other indicators of fire progression, using an innovative approach to cluster VIIRS hotspots into fire perimeter isochrones. At this scale, we identified 102 landscapes fires that occurred between 2012 and 2022. We evaluated the seasonality of fires as well as relationships between ROS and Burned Area. We also looked for environmental drivers such as land cover and climate. The results show significant differences in land cover, with ROS and burned area clearly peaking in March and April. The median ROS during these peak months is approximately 0.09 km/hr., and 66% of the burned area occurs during this spring period. This peak decreases in February and May, indicating the length of the main fire season. Fires with higher ROS tend to have a larger burned area. Where these fires occurred, an increase in extreme events of the variables associated with FWI could be observed over time. There was also a strong correlation between the occurrence of these larger-scale fires and the FFMC. Accurate ROS data is critical for determining elevated fire risk periods, the effectiveness of available suppression techniques, and appropriate land and fuel management strategies.

In this communication, I will present a brief summary for policy makers and local stakeholders of the main findings obtained through the development of the FirESmart (https://firesmartproject.wordpress.com), a 4-year project funded by the FCT since 2019 in response to the dramatic wildfires that took placed in Portugal in 2017. Our research demonstrated how an effective implementation of European agricultural policies could benefit biodiversity while providing further fire-suppression opportunities, generating societal benefits in the form of savings in fire suppression costs. Our results showed that large-scale forest conversions to more fire-resistant forests would not be on their own the most economically effective solutions to reduce potential burned area and consequently suppression costs. However, when integrated with HNVf policies to jointly reduce fire hazards, this strategy generates the smallest net cost to society. This generates the lowest net suppression cost and wildfire ecosystem services damages. In this sense, the new European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) offers an excellent opportunity to incorporate ‘fire-smartness’ into renewed EU agricultural policies that would contribute to wildfire cost mitigation. It also goes beyond the business-as-usual scenarios and provides plausible future pathways wherein climate-smart strategies (such as rewilding modulated by fire suppression, and afforestation programs carefully planned) can emerge as nature-based solutions if the new CAP continues to fail at reversing rural abandonment trends in mountain landscapes of North of Portugal. Overall, the FirESmart project illustrates the benefits of integrating fire hazard control, ecosystem service supply and biodiversity conservation to inform decision-making in mountain landscapes of Southern Europe.

Wildfires in Portugal have considerable socio-economic and environmental impacts, and a National Action Plan for 2020-30 is under execution to tackle the issue. Most fires – including the most devastating - are caused by people: agro-pastoral fires, accidental ignitions, and arson, with substantial variability across the country.
This study aims to develop observation-derived analysis as an essential complement to public surveys to gain an in-depth understanding of public fire risk perception and support the design of future actions – including targeted awareness campaigns.

Methods:
-Develop robust metrics linking fire-related activities to fire-weather indices.
-Analyze those metrics in space and time to evaluate changes in risk perception and identify areas/topics that require more communication efforts.
-Evaluate how recent prevention actions contributed to change people’s response to risk.

Overall, we observe improvements in risk perception in the agro-pastoral sector, with fire-use shifting from high to medium hazard days. We relate this trend to projects initiated 3 years ago: a national awareness campaign, and a public platform to request fire-use authorization based on weather predictions. We also see less arson in summer, but little success in preventing accidental fires, and discuss potential motives.
Importantly, our approach clearly identifies specific regions departing from these national trends. We then leverage this new, spatially explicit diagnostic with communication managers to optimize future actions and their impacts.

The integration of these metrics in decision making is a powerful approach to define, monitor and pro-actively adjust the content and spatial focus of awareness campaigns and fire prevention strategies.

The Campos Amazônicos National Park (CANP) covers 47% (2,030 km²) of the largest enclave of tropical savanna ecosystems (Cerrado) in the south of Brazilian Amazon, helping to conserve biodiversity in a region that has historically been affected by severe wildfires linked to human presence and lightning. This work aims to analyse information from prescribed fire carried out by the CANP management team in recent years, evaluating their effects in reducing wildfires. A total of 226 prescribed fire were carried out between May and July 2018 to 2022, which were monitored using the following parameters: total burned area in relation to the planned area, type of extinction, wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity. The burned areas exceeded 700 km² (average of 142 per year – 7% of the total area of tropical savannas inside CANP) and corresponded to 88% of the total area planned for the fires, and fire extinction occurred naturally in 98% of the cases. The wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity records at the beginning of each burn showed averages of 3.75 km/h, 32.14°C and 63.4%, respectively. Preliminary data indicate trends of reduction in the wildfire recurrence, reaching a reduction of 58% in areas covered by wildfires in the comparison between the periods of 2010-2015 and 2016-2022. The systematization of records helps to better understand the behaviour of fire and its effects on the landscape and contributes to the optimization of future management strategies that consider the use of prescribed fire to reduce large wildfires.

Brazil has important fire policies to combat and prevent wildfires. In recent years, however, fire rates have become predominant in Brazilian wetlands, the Pantanal biome. When 26% of this biome was burned in 2020, the Pantanal Brigades Program - BPAN was created as a social initiative led by the SOS Pantanal institution. Based on the paradigm of integrated fire management, the Program trains, structures, and helps communities fire brigades for a prompt response and prevention of actions in the most vulnerable areas to burn. In order to analyze the contribution of BPAN in the period of 2020 to 2022, the areas affected by fire were evaluated based on VIIRS active fires, ALARMES burned area, and MapBiomas Project land use and occupation. The results showed a reduction of, approximately 98% in fire detection in the community areas, which also resulted in a decrease of fire incidence in the phytophysiognomies forest (-98%), grassland and savanna (-95%), and wetlands (-99%). Moreover, the BPAN has good results to integrate and work with farmers, to empower women as combatants, and to engage young people in raising environmental awareness in their respective communities. The creation and implementation of BPAN were important for the conservation of the Pantanal. The intention for the coming years is to guarantee and strengthen support for the same communities, and structure prevention actions based on local public policies.

The size and frequency of human-caused large wildfires continue to increase across the U.S. Southwest due to an array of shifting social and ecological conditions, resulting in increased infrastructural and ecological damage. Evidence-based prevention strategies are urgently needed, but foundational research that bridges geospatial and social data to inform these efforts is scarce. Our objective is to assess the current state of public and manager knowledge about human-caused large wildfire prevention strategies and their effectiveness in order to inform future management strategies on public lands. We are using a mixed-method approach consisting of three initial phases: (1) mapping of human ignition clusters in Arizona and New Mexico using GIS; (2) intercept surveys with public land users on the Coconino, Santa Fe, and Carson National Forests during the summer of 2022 (n = 710), and semi-structured interviews with fire prevention specialists (currently in progress). This poster shares an overview of our research framework for social science-oriented investigation around wildfire ignition prevention strategies, with the intent to introduce discussion on the transferability of our methods to non-U.S. contexts. This includes an overview of our use of a practitioner advisory board to guide research, effectively creating a science-management partnership driven by on-the-ground needs. We also provide key findings related to survey and interview data, with a focus on identifying transferrable lessons learned that can help elevate science and management of human-caused wildfires around the world.

This study aims at increasing the preparedness for efficient and immediate intervention by proposing an analysis framework useful at the very beginning of a fire in order to discriminate real starts of wildfires from false alarms.
During high fire danger periods the transition from a start of fire to a raging wildfire can occur in a time scale of minutes. Timely alarm and response often rely on networks of fire lookouts to spot any start of fire by identifying smoke plumes as a first sign. However, not every smoke is generated by a growing wildfire, nor could it always be originated by biomass combustion. In addition, during high fire danger periods agricultural fires and camp fires can still occur despite the fire ban, consequently distracting fire resources for onsite verification. Therefore, the analytical skills of lookouts are fundamental in the early minutes of a start of fire to provide sufficient, high-quality, reliable and continuous information to the command center which can then dispatch additional resources to the more likely start of wildfire, especially when simultaneous smoke events are reported.
The analysis framework is made operational by adopting a customized checklist to assess and classify smoke plumes generated from not directly visible fire events. Such complementary information can integrate the data used by analysts to assess the risk of fire propagation for resource dispatch and initial attack. This methodology has been adopted by lookouts within the Civil Protection Volunteers in Rimini province (Italy) and its validation is underway.

Objectives
The Fire Weather Index (FWI) System provides a set of six indices derived from weather observations, each indicative of different aspects of potential fire activity. This basic design and simple inputs has made the System a popular choice for adaptation in other regions, but its application often focuses only on the final FWI index, therefore limiting its full application for wildland fire preparedness. This presentation will review examples of how all six of the indicators are used in operational fire management planning in Canada, and present new methods to determine the adjective classes commonly used to communicate them (i.e. low, moderate, high, extreme).
Methods
A new approach to updating the FWI System adjective classes was developed. For each class a single physically defined process was selected (i.e. ignition potential or depth of burn). Physically meaningful thresholds were then chosen based on a reanalysis of Canadian Forest Service experimental fire behavior datasets, small scale test fire ignition studies and a selection of relevant information reports and papers.
Results
The methodology resulted in a new set of adjective classes that was based on a single physically meaningful process. Therefore, the classes should have more interpretive power and linkage to the processes they were intended to describe.
Conclusions
While there is no set recipe for adaptation of the FWI System to a new region this new methodology should help improve understanding of what each element of the wildland fire environment the FWI System outputs are designed to track; a critical first step.

The projected climate change scenarios foresee an increase in the complexity of wildfire suppression. It is difficult and inefficient to dimension resources and personnel with these extreme episodes in mind, making collaboration between the agencies involved the best option.

It is clear, as stated many times at national and international forums, the need for a better coordination between agencies, to ensure a safe and effective exchange of resources and wildfire operations. Based on this, the National Wildfire Preparedness Program has been pioneered in Spain.

This program represents an advance in the improvement of preparedness and therefore of the response. It consist of a) joint exercises, focused on complex scenarios that affect several jurisdictions and require the implementation of a Unified Command; b) exchange of experts, to capitalize knowledge and experience of all the organizations involved; and c) the Forest Fires Assessment and Advisory Team (FAST), to promote national and international support on wildfires.

The ultimate goal of the Program, as a national preparedness strategy, is to advance in the coordination and interoperability of the intervening resources, promoting the convergence of procedures and protocols.

Indigenous communities have been managing savannas with fire for thousands of years. This management was suppressed by governmental environmental agencies, following the trend of implementing zero fire policies. The disastrous consequences of zero fire policies in Brazilian tropical savannas led to the implementation of integrated fire management, through prescribed burning. Between 2015 and 2022, Prevfogo/Ibama carried out 15,356 prescribed burnings in 49 Indigenous Lands, where 86,671 indigenous people from 50 different ethnic groups live. They cover an area of 117,801.7 Km2, where 67,403.7 Km2 are fire-dependent savannas, of which about 10,041.3 Km2 were burned by prescription in 2021. During three years, the brigades responsible for the fires collected data on fruit species important to the communities, evaluating mortality rates, severity, reproduction rate and fruit productivity, in addition to the frequency of the fauna. The treatments involved areas under fire exclusion, affected by wildfires or managed with prescribed burning at different times. The results were statistically analyzed and showed that prescribed burning, especially when carried out at the beginning of the dry season, reduces mortality, presents low severity, increases reproduction rates and results in high fruit production in native trees. The frequency of the different species of fauna varied between the areas managed or under fire exclusion, but none of them chose the areas affected by the fires. We conclude that prescribed burning results in lower severity in native Cerrado fruit trees, higher rates of fruit production and benefits both native fauna and local indigenous communities.

Objectives:
To update the methodology for calculating the width of firebreaks in the Valencian Community, defining them as active infrastructures in which land firefighting means can work safely while optimizing the investment in their execution and maintenance.
Methodology:
The methodology was based on the concept of safety distance. For this calculation, a solid flame front that emits energy radiation uniformly over its entire surface was assumed. The mathematical expression results in an incident heat flux value that depends, among other factors, on the distance to the element receiving the radiation. By applying a maximum radiation threshold for the personnel, the minimum working distance can be obtained and, therefore, the width of the infrastructure. The calculation required simulations with the BehavePlus software (USDA Forest Service), for which the necessary meteorological parameters were obtained from the ERA-5 climate database (ECMWF), together with the analysis of historical fires to define the most suitable scenarios.
Results:
Differentiated results have been obtained for the 11 meteorological zones into which the Valencian Community is divided, based on the climatological differences calculated for each of them and the scenarios obtained from the analysis of historical fires. The safety distances have been calculated for the fuel models present in the territory, and for different slope intervals.
Conclusions:
It has been possible to optimize the calculation of the widths of the firebreaks in the Valencian Community based on the concept of safe working distance from a maximum threshold of heat flow, together with the climatological and historical fire analysis.

The goal of this work is to present the methodology and results related to the decrease of wildfire incidents with the adoption of IFM during the past seven years in the indigenous land of Parque do Araguaia. This territory has a 13,970 km2 area, 73% of which is Bananal Island, the largest fluvial island in the world.

For the methodology, we will show how the prescribed burns were conducted over the last 7 years of IFM. The findings will be presented and compared to the occurrence of wildfire incidents over a 14-year period, allowing us to compare data before and after (the last 7 years) the implementation of IFM.
The satellite used for daily hot spot acquisition was the referential satellite used by the National Institute of Spatial Research (INPE). Those data were used to compose a temporal series throughout the years, which allowed us to analyze the tendency of the total number of hot spots in a determined region over a period of time. From 1999 to 2007, it was used the NOAA-12 satellite, and since then, AQUA_M-T.

As a result, after Integrated Fire Management was put in place, there were fewer wildfire events in Parque do Araguaia.

Although it is simple to identify those findings, more scientific study is required to determine the effects on fauna and flora.

In the face of climate change, the European Alps experience higher temperatures, more heatwaves, and severe wildfires in recent years. Improved fire danger assessments become therefore a key element of fire management strategies. The integrated fire danger assessment system www.waldbrand.at was designed for the Alpine country of Austria considering i) daily fire weather index data, ii) a hazard map for fire ignition by human activities and lightning and iii) information about fuels, mainly regarding forest types. An expert-driven modelling approach was implemented as an online Web-GIS prototype, which produces daily forecasts of fire danger with a spatial resolution of 100 m x 100 m. To improve the information base about the fuel data, additional vegetation parameters were derived in context of the CONFIRM project by analysing high-resolution LiDAR-data and Sentinel images (optical and microwaves). This helped to improve the estimation of fire ignition danger, fire spread and fire intensity. Four data layers were added to the system: a map of forest gaps, a solar irradiance map, a layer on fire ladders and a classification of tree species to improve the fuel information. These layers were combined to improve the prediction of ignition danger, fire spread and expected fire intensity for two case study areas in Austria comprising more than 1mio ha of forests. In this contribution we demonstrate, how the inclusion of these new vegetation traits in combination with topographical information and meteorological conditions can improve the daily fire danger assessment in mountainous areas.

Croatian wildfire video monitoring and surveillance system (FireDetect AI) is operatively used in four Croatian coastal counties since 2018. The Fire Detect AI is an information system based on a network of video cameras used for early fire detection and fire surveillance. The benefits of the technical system have been stressed out in numerous situations, keeping the fire casualties low despite the fact that we are witnessing novel fire regimes due to climate and socio economic changes. However, the system efficiency has only been studied in terms of fire detection accuracy, but never in terms of objective efficiency evaluation.
In this paper we are proposing and demonstrating a methodology for evaluation of the video monitoring and surveillance system efficiency with respect to cascading effects of early response, preparedness and information availability.
To objectively evaluate the efficiency of video surveillance in both early fire detection and conducting efficient operative procedure we created a dataset achieved by cohesion of archive data of fire ignitions, fire interventions, fire regime description and burned areas in counties with and without fire surveillance installed. We analyze economic losses in terms of efforts in fire suppressing and burned areas and damages.
With comparison of variance in economical loss from archived data before the installment of the system we qualitatively and quantitatively determine the Fire Detect AI effects.
Cross comparison of ignition data and economical loss data shows the evident effect the video system has on decreasing the burned areas, casualties and effort required for fire suppression.