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Limiting the Immediate and Subsequent Hazards Associated with Wildfires

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Landslide Science and Practice

Abstract

Wildfire is a unique natural hazard because it poses immediate threats to life and property as well as creating conditions that can lead to subsequent debris flows. In recent years, the immediate destructive force of wildfires has been decreased through better understanding of fire behavior. Lightning detection networks now identify the number and locations of this common ignition source. Measurements of wind speed, temperature, slope, fuel types and fire boundaries are routinely incorporated into models for fire spread, permitting real-time adjustments to fire-fighting strategies, thus increasing fire-fighting effectiveness.

Similarly, our capability to limit impacts from post-fire debris flows is improving. Empirical models for estimating the probability of debris-flow occurrence, the volume of such an event, and mapping the inundated area, linked with improved definitions of the rainfall conditions that trigger debris flows, can be used to provide critical information for post-fire hazard mitigation and emergency-response planning.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Forest Service, Sierra National Forest, 1600 Tollhouse Road, Clovis, 93611, CA, USA

    Jerome V. DeGraff

  2. US Geological Survey, Landslide Hazards Program, DFC, MS 966, 25046, Denver, CO, 80225, USA

    Susan H. Cannon

  3. National Research Council, Institute of Research for Hydrogeological Protection, Via Amendola, 122-I, Bari, 70126, Italy

    Mario Parise

Authors
  1. Jerome V. DeGraff
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  2. Susan H. Cannon
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  3. Mario Parise
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jerome V. DeGraff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Geological Survey of Italy, ISPRA - Italian Institute for Environmen, Vitaliano Brancati 60, Rome, 00144, Italy

    Claudio Margottini

  2. ICL - International Consortium on Landsl, Via La Pira 4, Florence, 50121, Italy

    Paolo Canuti

  3. Kyoto University Uji-Campus, UNITWIN Headquarters Building, Uji, 611-0011, Kyoto, Japan

    Kyoji Sassa

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DeGraff, J.V., Cannon, S.H., Parise, M. (2013). Limiting the Immediate and Subsequent Hazards Associated with Wildfires. In: Margottini, C., Canuti, P., Sassa, K. (eds) Landslide Science and Practice. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31337-0_26

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