Human activity and demographics drive the fire regime in a highly developed European boreal region

Sjöström, Johan; Granström, Anders

doi:10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103743

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…An analysis of wildfires over the period 1996-2020 showed that the time to initial attack varies greatly with population density within Sweden, because lower population density translates into longer distances between fire stations (Sjöström and Granström 2023). Further, the risk of an ignition growing beyond 10 ha increases with decreasing population density at the regional scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Road density correlates positively with fire occurrence and negatively with burnt area (Pinto et al 2020). Median driving time to reach the fire sites is only 15 min (Sjöström and Granström 2023) and if a 500-m hose-lay can be in position within 20 min, two standard 1 + 4 units may in fact be adequate for suppressing most low-intensity fires. Interestingly, the 1 + 4 unit size is mandated by national safety rules for structural firefighting, but may also serve reasonably well for forest firefighting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is evident from statistics that the standard deployment is sufficient in most situations. Of all forest fires, 89% are controlled before reaching even 0.5 ha (Sjöström and Granström 2023). However, for fires with a rapid ROS and high intensity, such small forces can quickly be overwhelmed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On average, there are ~5000 dispatches to wildfires across Sweden annually, of which approximately half are classified as forest fires, i.e. burning mostly forest land (Sjöström and Granström 2023). The other half are fires on open land, typically burning grass litter in spring.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, wildfires constitute only a fraction of the workload for the rescue services, the bulk being car accidents and structural fires. Most wildfires are rapidly contained, which is made possible because of high road densities and mostly short distances from fire stations, but annually, 270 forest fires grow beyond 0.5 ha and between 1996 and 2020, 63 fires were larger than 100 ha (Sjöström and Granström 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perception of wildfire behaviour potential among Swedish incident commanders, and their fire suppression tactics revealed through tabletop exercises

Granström

Sjöström²,

Vylund³

2023

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Background. Swedish wildfires are handled by multipurpose municipal rescue services, raising questions about how non-specialist incident commanders (ICs) perceive and interpret wildfire behaviour. Aims. Elucidating ICs' interpretations of fire behaviour, fuel complexes, weather, landscape structure and the role of these in tactical decisions. Methods. We exposed Swedish ICs to questionnaires and tabletop exercises for different standardised fire scenarios. Key results. Despite minimal formal wildfire training, ICs showed reasonable consensus in rating of fuels, fire behaviour, hose-lay production rates, etc. Tactics were to access the fire from the nearest road with hose-line laid from the engine and water ferried on trucks. In a scenario where initial attack failed, they typically fell back to roads, without burning off. This indicates a fundamental flaw in tactics employed for high-intensity fires, which easily breach forestry roads, and invite outflanking. Conclusions. The IC wildfire knowledge is built on personal and group experience rather than formal education. We found reasonable competence, despite the organisations being designed primarily for other purposes. However, tactical understanding of complex, large incidents was poor. IC training should emphasise potential hazards of such incidents to enhance group competence despite their low frequency. Implications. Standardised tabletop exercises can provide insight into decision-making of ICs that is otherwise hidden.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Perception of wildfire behaviour potential among Swedish incident commanders, and their fire suppression tactics revealed through tabletop exercises

Granström

Sjöström²,

Vylund³

2023

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Insuring Wildfires Globally

Kelly,

Peng

2024

Handbook of Insurance

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“This community will grow” — little concern for future wildfires in a dry and increasingly hotter Swedish rural community

Eriksson,

Sjöström,

Vermina Plathner

2024

Reg Environ Change

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Increased risk of wildfires is often highlighted in media coverage of climate change in the Nordic countries. How an increased risk is reflected in the concerns and adaptive measures within the most likely affected communities is nevertheless not known. This study investigates concerns and adaptation to wildfires in a rural community in south-eastern Sweden. The comparatively dry study area has a history of frequent but often low-consequence wildfires and is projected to experience Sweden’s largest increase in severe fire weather towards 2100. Through narratives, this study elucidates potential wildfire concerns in this area and motivations behind adaptation measures. The narratives are compared to a physical causal network extracted from the literature on fires and their consequences in the region. Residents foresee an increased wildfire risk but do not consider it a threat to the future well-being of the community. Forest owners and homeowners express low commitment in preventive or adaptive measures. Instead, contrasting the reality of the twentieth century, the fire service is currently considered to be responsible for both preventing and suppressing fires. This attitude is attributed to the lack of severe implications from the generally well-managed fires in the region. Actions for prevention and adaptation seem triggered by media attention or experience from real high-consequence events occurring elsewhere, rather than local wildfire occurrence or climate change projections.

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Human activity and demographics drive the fire regime in a highly developed European boreal region

Cited by 14 publications

References 45 publications

Perception of wildfire behaviour potential among Swedish incident commanders, and their fire suppression tactics revealed through tabletop exercises

Perception of wildfire behaviour potential among Swedish incident commanders, and their fire suppression tactics revealed through tabletop exercises

Insuring Wildfires Globally

“This community will grow” — little concern for future wildfires in a dry and increasingly hotter Swedish rural community

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