Wildland Fire Suppression and Fuel Management: Accidents, Near Accidents and Stress Issues
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Hazards and Risk Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2023) | Viewed by 284
Special Issue Editor
Interests: prescribed burning; forest management; firefighter safety; fire behavior simulation; forest planning for less vulnerable landscapes; fire ecology; firefighters’ training
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The purpose of this Special Issue is to assess accidents and near misses in forest fuel and fire management jobs. Wildfire fatalities remain a significant problem in different regions of the world. There is a robust inter-annual variability regarding tragic misfortunes. However, it is paradoxical that there is not a clear reduction in these accidents even though we invest heavily in training, equipment and improved work procedures. It is very possible that we are not identifying the causes of accidents with the necessary detail and that we favor quick and non-innovative solutions. Different studies have used (and merged) data originating from national databases on accidents that caused these deaths. Those works have documented and analyzed probable relationships with the number and type of fatalities. Some findings indicate that an in-depth revision of fire-management policies and practices is required, highlighting prevention planning in urban areas, and improved training of firefighters. Other studies were aimed at assessing present day perceptions of heat stress, heat strain, acclimatization and recovery practices in wildland fire suppression. Thermal strain is a key risk for health and safety in wildland firefighting. However, do firefighters know the best heat strain mitigation strategies in wildland fire suppression? There is a gap among knowledge about heat strain, its mitigation strategies and the level of actual implementation of these practices in the workplace. We need to improve heat strain management and implement operational directives for acclimatization and active cooling interventions. We are failing to improve human safety.
Dr. Domingo M. Molina-Terrén
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- wildfire accidents
- wildfire fatalities
- wildland–urban interface
- heat stress
- mitigation strategies
- wildland firefighters
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