Summary of workshop large outdoor fires and the built environment

Highlights

• Large outdoor fires present a risk to the built environment.

• Global overview of the large outdoor fire risk to the built environment presented.

• Critical research needs for this problem in the context of fire safety science are provided.

Abstract

Large outdoor fires present a risk to the built environment. Wildfires that spread into communities, referred to as Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires, have destroyed communities throughout the world, and are an emerging problem in fire safety science. Other examples are large urban fires including those that have occurred after earthquakes. Research into large outdoor fires, and how to potentially mitigate the loss of structures in such fires, lags other areas of fire safety science research. At the same time, common characteristics between fire spread in WUI fires and urban fires have not been fully exploited. In this paper, an overview of the large outdoor fire risk to the built environment from each region is presented. Critical research needs for this problem in the context of fire safety science are provided. The present paper seeks to develop the foundation for an international research needs roadmap to reduce the risk of large outdoor fires to the built environment.

Introduction

Large outdoor fires are becoming an important research area across the world. Many cities are densely populated, and there exists the potential for large-scale urban fires. These may or may not be produced after the occurrence of strong earthquakes. The Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, Japan, in 1995 is one example. The recent 2016 Itoigawa City fire that occurred in Niigata, Japan, is an example where no earthquake was present, but a large-scale urban fire developed.

In many countries, wildland fires that spread into communities, termed wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, are frequently seen in media reports and have resulted in loss of life and property damage. The 2007 Southern California Fire forced 300,000 people to evacuate, destroyed over one thousand structures, and resulted in $1B paid by insurers [1]. In Europe, the 2007 fires in Greece destroyed several hundred structures, and resulted in the deaths of more than 70 people. In Australia, the 2009 fires in Victoria caused the death of 173 people and destroyed more than one two thousand structures [2]. More than 60 people perished in WUI fires in Portugal in June 2017.

WUI fires continue to burn in the USA and are rapidly getting worse with attendant increased economic costs [3]. Some recent examples include the Bastrop Complex Fire in Texas in 2011, the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado in 2012, and fires in Arizona, Colorado, and California in 2013. In 2016, WUI fires near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee claimed the lives of 14 people and destroyed more than two thousand structures. In October 2017, multiple WUI fires in California destroyed more than 6700 residential structures and resulted in more than 40 deaths.

Fire safety science research has spent a great deal of effort to understand fire dynamics within buildings. Research into large outdoor fires and how to potentially mitigate the loss of structures in such fires is far less developed than other areas of fire safety science research. This is due to the fact that large outdoor fire spread is incredibly complex, involving the interaction of topography, weather, vegetation, and structures [4]. At the same time, common characteristics between fire spread in WUI fires and urban fires have not been fully exploited. Once a wildland fire reaches a community and ignites structures, structure-to-structure fire spread can occur under similar mechanisms as in urban fire spread.

On June 11, 2017, a workshop sponsored by the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) was held. Seven panelists from around the world presented regional overviews of the large outdoor fire problem related to the built environment in their respective regions. Presentations explored common characteristics between these fires and were arranged as: European View, Asian View, North American View, South American View, and Oceania View. The presentations were reported in a recent report [5].

In this paper, an in-depth overview of the large outdoor fire risk to the built environment from each region is presented. Critical research needs for this problem in the context of fire safety science are provided. The paper also includes an African perspective, as this was not presented at the workshop.

The authors seek to develop the foundation for an international research needs roadmap to reduce the risk of large outdoor fires to the built environment. Similar to the workshop, the various regions are presented in a random fashion as to not suggest any particular region in the world is more or less important than the other. The paper also highlights the start of a permanent working group approved under the umbrella of the IAFSS to start to tackle this enormous fire safety science challenge.