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In Southern France, where most wildfires occur, the fire size has never exceeded 6 744 ha since 1991, whereas mega-fires have burned huge areas in other Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Portugal. It was interesting to find out what main factors drove the ignition of the largest fires that had occurred in this region of France.The study was carried out using the forest fires database Prométhée that records all fires occurring in the 15 départements of Southern France since 1973. However, the records preceeding 1997 are not reliable, only the 1997-2010 period was investigated.Less than 1% of the fires (N=260) recorded during this period were equal or larger than 100 ha whereas 78% of the fires were smaller than 1 ha. However these large fires accounted for 78% of the burned area and 66% of these fires occurred during the summer (July-August). The number of large fires and the burned area per year and per département were calculated and the proportions of fires causes were determined.In each département, the impact of different explanatory variables (land-cover, topographic, climatic or socio-economic) on the number of large fires and on the size of the burned area was investigated using multivariate and regression analyses.Results showed that high shrubland and pasture covers, high population and minor road densities as well as dryness in fall to spring were positively linked to the number of large fires whereas high forest cover, ruggedness, wetness in fall to spring were negatively linked to this parameter. High wildland vegetation cover, especially shrubland, wetness in fall-winter, dryness in summer during a long period, high unemployment rate and tourism pressure were positively linked to the burned area whereas wetness in summer, high farmland and pasture covers and high population density were negatively linked to this parameter. However, only shrubland cover and ruggedness were significant descriptors of both fire occurrence and burned area.The départements the most affected by such fires were those situated in the eastern part of the region, on the Mediterranean coast and the main fire cause was arson.

Assessment of the flammability of ornamental vegetation (particularly hedges) planted around houses is necessary in light of the increasing urbanization of the wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) and the high fire occurrence in such areas. The structure and flammability of seven of the species most frequently planted as hedges in Provence (southeastern France) were studied at particle level. Spatial repartition of the different types of fuel particles within plants was assessed by means of the cube method. The leaf flammability was assessed using an epiradiator as a burning device, and measurements of foliar physical characteristics and gross heat of combustion (GHC) helped to explain the results of burning experiments. Co-inertia analysis revealed that species with thin leaves were quick to ignite (Pyracantha coccinea, Phyllostachys sp.) and species with high leaf GHC burned the longest (Pittosporum tobira, Nerium oleander). Species presenting high ignitability (Photinia fraseri, Phyllostachys sp. and Pyracantha coccinea) were characterized by high foliar surface area-to-volume ratio, and species presenting lower ignitability were characterized by high GHC (Pittosporum tobira, Nerium oleander, Cupressus sempervirens). Hierarchical cluster analysis of the flammability variables (ignition frequency, time-to-ignition and flaming duration) categorized the relative flammability of the seven species (including dead Cupressus sempervirens) in five clusters of species from poorly flammable (Pittosporum tobira) to extremely flammable (dead Cupressus sempervirens).This study provides useful information for reducing fire risk in WUIs in the study area.

12Brief summary: The capacity of several fuel beds to be ignited by firebrands and to sustain a fire was assessed 13 through the study of their flammability. Then, the capability of different types of firebrands to ignite fuel beds 14 was studied through laboratory tests, in order to know their behaviour when they are involved in spot fires. 29A series of tests were conducted under laboratory conditions to assess, on the one hand, the capacity of several 30 fuel beds to be ignited by firebrands and to sustain a fire and, on the other hand, the capability of different types

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