Journal articles on the topic 'Wildfire emergency'
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1
Stokes, Sarah C., Kathleen S. Romanowski, Soman Sen, David G. Greenhalgh, and Tina L. Palmieri. "40 Wildfire Burn Victims: A Unique Population." Journal of Burn Care & Research 42, Supplement_1 (April 1, 2021): S30—S31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/irab032.044.
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Abstract Introduction In the past ten years, wildfires have burned an average of 6.8 million acres annually. The frequency of wildfires is expected to increase with climate change. Wildfire burn victims have not been previously well characterized in the literature. As we prepare for more wildfires it is necessary to target populations at risk for sustaining burns with prevention efforts and to prepare hospital systems to meet these patients’ needs. Methods A retrospective review of patients admitted to a burn center between 2016 and 2019 was performed. Patients who were admitted after sustaining a burn attributable to wildfires were identified from the burn center database. Controls were matched to wildfire burn patients by age, gender and total body surface area of burn. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included number of operations, length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS, development of wound infections and pneumonia, wound culture microbiology. Results A total of 16 patients who had sustained burns in wildfires were identified and matched with 32 controls. There was no difference in mortality (19% wildfire vs. 9% non, p=0.386), LOS (18 days wildfire vs. 15 days non-wildfire, p=0.406), ICU LOS (17 days wildfire vs. 11 days non-wildfire, p=0.991) and number of skin grafts (1 wildfire vs. 0.5 non-wildfire, p=0.519). Patients who had sustained burns in a wildfire trended towards higher rates of pneumonia (31% wildfire vs. 13% non-wildfire, p=0.117), and higher rates of wound infection (31% wildfire vs. 19% non-wildfire, p=0.361). On evaluation of wound cultures for the 5 wildfire patients and the 7 non-wildfire patients who developed wound infections, more patients who sustained burns in wildfires had gram positive bacteria cultured from their wounds (100% wildfire vs. 29% non-wildfire, p=0.027). Patients who had sustained burns in wildfires trended towards increased likelihood of readmission (23% wildfire vs. 3% non-wildfire, p=0.080). Conclusions Patients who sustain burns in wildfires are likely at increased risk of readmission, of developing pneumonia and of developing gram-positive wound infections. Interventions for these patients should focus on pneumonia prevention and assistance with wound care after discharge.
2
Dacre, H. F., B. R. Crawford, A. J. Charlton-Perez, G. Lopez-Saldana, G. H. Griffiths, and J. Vicencio Veloso. "Chilean Wildfires: Probabilistic Prediction, Emergency Response, and Public Communication." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 99, no. 11 (November 2018): 2259–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-17-0111.1.
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AbstractThe 2016/17 wildfire season in Chile was the worst on record, burning more than 600,000 ha. While wildfires are an important natural process in some areas of Chile, supporting its diverse ecosystems, wildfires are also one of the biggest threats to Chile’s unique biodiversity and its timber and wine industries. They also pose a danger to human life and property because of the sharp wildland–urban interface that exists in many Chilean towns and cities. Wildfires are, however, difficult to predict because of the combination of physical (meteorology, vegetation, and fuel condition) and human (population density and awareness level) factors. Most Chilean wildfires are started because of accidental ignition by humans. This accidental ignition could be minimized if an effective wildfire warning system alerted the population to the heightened danger of wildfires in certain locations and meteorological conditions. Here, we demonstrate the design of a novel probabilistic wildfire prediction system. The system uses ensemble forecast meteorological data together with a long time series of fire products derived from Earth observation to predict not only fire occurrence but also how intense wildfires could be. The system provides wildfire risk estimation and associated uncertainty for up to six days in advance and communicates it to a variety of end users. The advantage of this probabilistic wildfire warning system over deterministic systems is that it allows users to assess the confidence of a forecast and thus make more informed decisions regarding resource allocation and forest management. The approach used in this study could easily be adapted to communicate other probabilistic forecasts of natural hazards.
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Parker-Graham, Christine A., June Ang, Eva Marie QuijanoCardé, Linda A. Deanovic, Matthew Stone, John E. Madigan, Monica Aleman, and Esteban Soto. "Fish evacuation and emergency sheltering during wildfire disasters." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 260, no. 7 (April 1, 2022): 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.2460/javma.21.05.0258.
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Wildfires are a serious and expanding threat in western North America, and wildfire encroachment on human populations leads to widespread evacuation and emergency housing operations for residents and their companion animals and livestock. Veterinarians are frequently part of wildfire response efforts and are called upon to assist in rescue, evacuation, and emergency housing operations as well as to provide medical care for evacuated animals. Although veterinarians are likely familiar with the principles of transporting and housing terrestrial animals, emergency response for aquatic companion animals presents unique logistic challenges. Veterinarians familiar with aquatic animal evacuation, housing, and care prior to a wildfire response can extend the scope of disaster recovery. This report offers general guidance for rescuing, evacuating, housing, and caring for aquatic animals in the wake of a wildfire.
4
Huang, Yuefang. "Wildfire Health Risks in Relation to Local Senior Population’s CRD Incidence Rate in the Greater Toronto Area." International Journal of Biology and Life Sciences 4, no. 1 (November 22, 2023): 35–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.54097/ijbls.v4i1.10.
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Wildfires as one of the most common and frequent environmental disasters in North America, Billions of government spending, public funds, resources, and personnel have been placed to cope with this natural disaster directly. The smoke, debris, particulates, ambient ultrafine particles, and other wildfire emissions have increasingly become a public health concern to which senior populations are particularly vulnerable, due to the populations' general behaviour and their physical health conditions. This essay investigates the implications of wildfires on public health by identifying the relationship between the exposure of wildfire emissions and the incidences of chronic respiratory disease in the senior population in the Greater Toronto Area. This research estimates the effects of wildfire emission exposure by using the cross-examination of the relevant health factors, including the incidence of wildfire; particulate level, ambulance service operation log and reported respiratory emergency disease to the incidences of wildfires. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been placed to estimate the effect range and proximity of CRD incidences to the wildfire location.
5
Wilgus, May-Lin, and Maryum Merchant. "Clearing the Air: Understanding the Impact of Wildfire Smoke on Asthma and COPD." Healthcare 12, no. 3 (January 25, 2024): 307. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12030307.
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Wildfires are a global natural phenomenon. In North America, wildfires have not only become more frequent, but also more severe and longer in duration, a trend ascribed to climate change combined with large fuel stores left from modern fire suppression. The intensification of wildfire activity has significant implications for planetary health and public health, as exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in wildfire smoke is linked to adverse health effects. This review focuses on respiratory morbidity from wildfire smoke exposure. Inhalation of wildfire PM2.5 causes lung injury via oxidative stress, local and systemic inflammation, airway epithelium compromise, and increased vulnerability to infection. Wildfire PM2.5 exposure results in exacerbations of pre-existing asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with an escalation in healthcare utilization, including emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Wildfire smoke exposure may be associated with asthma onset, long-term impairment of lung function, and increased all-cause mortality. Children, older adults, occupationally-exposed groups, and possibly women are the most at risk from wildfire smoke. Future research is needed to clarify best practices for risk mitigation and wildfire management.
6
Sun, Jingjing, Wenwen Qi, Yuandong Huang, Chong Xu, and Wentao Yang. "Facing the Wildfire Spread Risk Challenge: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?" Fire 6, no. 6 (June 7, 2023): 228. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire6060228.
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Wildfire is a sudden and highly destructive natural disaster that poses significant challenges in terms of response and rescue efforts. Influenced by factors such as climate, combustible materials, and ignition sources, wildfires have been increasingly occurring worldwide on an annual basis. In recent years, researchers have shown growing interest in studying wildfires, leading to a substantial body of related research. These studies encompass various topics, including wildfire prediction and forecasting, the analysis of spatial and temporal patterns, the assessment of ecological impacts, the simulation of wildfire behavior, the identification of influencing factors, the development of risk assessment models, techniques for managing combustible materials, decision-making technologies for firefighting, and fire-retardant methods. Understanding the factors that affect wildfire spread behavior, employing simulation methods, and conducting risk assessments are vital for effective wildfire prevention, disaster mitigation, and emergency response. Consequently, it is imperative to comprehensively review and explore further research in this field. This article primarily focuses on elucidating and discussing wildfire spread behavior as a key aspect. It summarizes the driving factors of wildfire spread behavior and introduces a wildfire spread behavior simulation software and its main applications based on these factors. Furthermore, it presents the research progress in wildfire risk assessment based on wildfire spread behavior factors and simulation, and provides an overview of various methods used for wildfire risk assessment. Finally, the article proposes several prospects for future research on wildfire spread: strengthening the dynamic monitoring of wildfires and utilizing comprehensive data from multiple sources, further exploring the differential effects of key factors on wildfire spread, investigating differences in driving factors, improving wildfire models in China, developing applicable software, and conducting accurate and scientific assessments of wildfire risks to protect ecological resources.
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Depicker, Arthur, Bernard De Baets, and Jan Marcel Baetens. "Wildfire ignition probability in Belgium." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 20, no. 2 (February 3, 2020): 363–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-363-2020.
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Abstract. In recent decades, large wildfires have inflicted considerable damage on valuable Natura 2000 regions in Belgium. Despite these events and the general perception that global change will exacerbate wildfire prevalence, this has not been studied yet in the Belgian context. Therefore, the national government initiated the national action plan on wildfires in order to evaluate the wildfire risk, on the one hand, and the materials, procedures, and training of fire services, on the other hand. This study focuses on the spatial distribution of the ignition probability, a component of the wildfire risk framework. In a first stage, we compile a historical wildfire database using (i) newspaper articles between 1994 and 2016 and (ii) a list of wildfire interventions between 2010 and 2013, provided by the government. In a second stage, we use a straightforward method relying on Bayes' rule and a limited number of covariates to calculate the ignition probability. It appears that most wildfire-prone areas in Belgium are located in heathland where military exercises are held. The provinces that have the largest relative areas with a high or very high wildfire risk are Limburg and Antwerp. Our study also revealed that most wildfire ignitions in Belgium are caused by humans (both arson and negligence) and that natural causes such as lightning are rather scarce. Wildfire prevention can be improved by (i) excluding military activity in fire-prone areas during the fire season, (ii) improving collaboration with foreign emergency services, (iii) concentrating the dedicated resources in the areas that display the highest ignition probabilities, (iv) improving fire detection methods, and (v) raising more awareness among the public.
8
Hahn, Micah B., Georgia J. Michlig, Amanda Hansen, Liam Manning, and Jura L. Augustinavicius. "Mental health during wildfires in Southcentral Alaska: An assessment of community-derived mental health categories, interventions, and implementation considerations." PLOS Climate 2, no. 10 (October 20, 2023): e0000300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000300.
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Previous studies have linked wildfires to a range of adverse mental health outcomes, but there has been limited research on the mental health impacts of wildfire in Alaska, an area undergoing rapid environmental change. We used a multi-level qualitative approach to identify mental health and psychosocial problems, coping, existing support, and gaps in support among communities who were affected by the Swan Lake and McKinley fires in Alaska in 2019. We recruited 39 community members from Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula to participate in free list interviews, a community ranking workshop, and in-depth interviews, and we recruited 12 professional key informants including wildland firefighters, mental health providers, community advocates, policy makers, and public health professionals to participate in in-depth interviews and a discussion-based workshop. There were several locally-defined categories of mental health issues identified in relation to wildfires in southcentral Alaska in 2019. Key informants who work in the region identified a package of communications-related interventions as being the most impactful and actionable support for wildfire-related mental health concerns. Additional highly rated mental health supports centered around leadership acknowledging the connection between wildfire and mental health, connecting community members to formal or informal systems of mental health care, enhancing the emergency shelter system, and providing crises debriefing during wildfire evacuations. The results of this study can be utilized to facilitate implementation of prevention and response activities to support mental health resilience during wildfires in Alaska and other wildfire-affected regions.
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Palmieri, Tina L., Kathleen S. Romanowski, Soman Sen, and David G. Greenhalgh. "102 Wildfire Burns: Implications for Burn Care." Journal of Burn Care & Research 41, Supplement_1 (March 2020): S67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/iraa024.105.
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Abstract Introduction Climate change, the encroachment of populations into wilderness, and carelessness have combined to increase the incidence of wildfire injuries. With the increased incidence has come an increase in the number of burn injuries. Prolonged extrication, delays in resuscitation, and the extreme fire and toxic air environment in a wildfire has the potential to cause more severe burn injury. The purpose of this study is to examine the demographics and outcomes of wildfire injuries and compare those outcomes to non-wildfire injuries. Methods Charts of patients admitted to a regional burn center during a massive wildfire in 2018 were reviewed for demographic, treatment, and outcome. We then obtained age, gender, and burn size matched controls from within 2 years of the incident, analyzed the same measures, and compared treatment and outcomes between the two groups. Results A total of 20 patients, 10 wildfire (WF) burns and 10 non-wildfire (NWF) burns, were included in the study. Age (59.6±7.8 WF vs. 59.4±7.4 years), total body surface area burn (TBSA) (14.9±4.7 WF vs. 17.2±0.9 NWF) and inhalation injury incidence (2 WF and 2 NWF) were similar between groups. Days on mechanical ventilation (24.3±19.4 WF vs. 9.4±9.8 NWF), length of stay (49.9±21.8 WF vs. 28.2±11.7 days) and ICU length of stay (43.0±25.6 WF vs 24.4±11.2 NWF) were higher in the WF group. WF patients required twice the number of operations. Mortality was similar in both groups (1 death/group). Conclusions Wildfire burn injuries, when compared to age, inhalation injury, and burn size matched controls, require more ventilatory support and have more operations. As a result, they have longer lengths of stay and have a prolonged ICU course. Burn centers should be prepared for the increased resource utilization that accompanies wildfire injuries. Applicability of Research to Practice All burn centers must be prepared for the possibility of wildfires and the increased resource utilzation that accompanies mass casualty events.
10
Gazzard, Rob, Julia McMorrow, and Jonathan Aylen. "Wildfire policy and management in England: an evolving response from Fire and Rescue Services, forestry and cross-sector groups." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371, no. 1696 (June 5, 2016): 20150341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0341.
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Severe wildfires are an intermittent problem in England. The paper presents the first analysis of wildfire policy, showing its halting evolution over two decades. First efforts to coordinate wildfire management came from local fire operation groups, where stakeholders such as fire services, land owners and amenity groups shared knowledge and equipment to tackle the problem. A variety of structures and informal management solutions emerged in response to local needs. Knowledge of wildfire accumulated within regional and national wildfire forums and academic networks. Only later did the need for central emergency planning and the response to climate change produce a national policy response. Fire statistics have allowed wildfires to be spatially evidenced on a national scale only since 2009. National awareness of wildfire was spurred by the 2011 fire season, and the high-impact Swinley Forest fire, which threatened critical infrastructure and communities within 50 miles of London. Severe wildfire was included in the National Risk Register for the first time in 2013. Cross-sector approaches to wildfire proved difficult as government responsibility is fragmented along the hazard chain. Stakeholders such as the Forestry Commission pioneered good practice in adaptive land management to build fire resilience into UK forests. The grass-roots evolution of participatory solutions has also been a key enabling process. A coordinated policy is now needed to identify best practice and to promote understanding of the role of fire in the ecosystem. This article is part of a themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
11
C. Stanley, Okoro, Lopez Alexander, and Unuriode O. Austine. "Proactive Wildfire Detection and Management using AI, ML, and 5G Technology in the United States." International Journal of Data Mining & Knowledge Management Process 14, no. 1/2 (March 29, 2024): 01–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.5121/ijdkp.2023.14201.
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Over the past few years, wildfires have become a worldwide environmental emergency, resulting in substantial harm to natural habitats and playing a part in the acceleration of climate change. Wildfire management methods involve prevention, response, and recovery efforts. Despite improvements in detection techniques, the rising occurrence of wildfires demands creative solutions for prompt identification and effective control. This research investigates proactive methods for detecting and handling wildfires in the United States, utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and 5G technology. The specific objective of this research covers proactive detection and prevention of wildfires using advanced technology; Active monitoring and mapping with remote sensing and signaling leveraging on 5G technology; and Advanced response mechanisms to wildfire using drones and IOT devices. This study was based on secondary data collected from government databases and analyzed using descriptive statistics. In addition, past publications were reviewed through content analysis, and narrative synthesis was used to present the observations from various studies. The results showed that developing new technology presents an opportunity to detect and manage wildfires proactively. Utilizing advanced technology could save lives and prevent significant economic losses caused by wildfires. Various methods, such as AI-enabled remote sensing and 5G-based active monitoring, can enhance proactive wildfire detection and management. In addition, super intelligent drones and IOT devices can be used for safer responses to wildfires. This forms the core of the recommendation to the fire Management Agencies and the government.
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Bihari, Menka, Elisabeth M. Hamin, and Robert L. Ryan. "Understanding the Role of Planners in Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation." ISRN Forestry 2012 (March 12, 2012): 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.5402/2012/253028.
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As wildfires affect more residential areas across the United States, the need for collaboration between land managers, federal agencies, neighbours, and local governments has become more pressing especially in the context of the wildland-urban interface. Previous research has not focused much on land-use planners’ role in wildfire mitigation. This paper provides information on how land-use planners can assist communities in learning to live with wildfire risk through planning, preparedness, and mitigation efforts in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Based on interviews with land-use planners, forest planners, and local emergency management officials, we identified a range of tools that could be used for improving wildfire preparedness and mitigation initiatives in the WUI, but also found that planners felt that they lacked the regulatory authority to use these tenaciously. The paper also identifies a range of possible actions that would contribute towards safer building practices in the interface communities.
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Hertelendy, Attila J., Fredrick M. Burkle, and Gregory R. Ciottone. "Canadian Wildfires: A Plague on Societies Well-Being, Inequities and Cohesion." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 37, no. 4 (July 12, 2022): 429–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x22000978.
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AbstractExtreme heat and wildfires have health implications for everyone; however, minority and low-income populations are disproportionately negatively affected due to generations of social inequities and discriminatory practices. Indigenous people in Canada are at a higher risk of many chronic respiratory diseases, as well as other non-communicable diseases and hospitalization, compared to the general population. These wildfires occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated how disruptive compounding disasters can be, putting minority populations such as First Nations, Metis, and Inuit tribes at increased risk and decreased priority. Going forward, if the necessarily proactive mitigation and preparedness steps are not undertaken, the ability to attenuate health inequity in the indigenous community by building resiliency to wildfire disasters will be significantly hampered.
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Mayner, L., and S. J. Stratton. "(A255) Medication Preparedness during Wildfire Evacuations." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 26, S1 (May 2011): s70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x11002391.
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IntroductionDuring wildfires, many are evacuated with little time to collect personal items. Evacuees who depend on daily medication for ongoing medical conditions often arrive to evacuation shelters without medication and with little knowledge of what they require. This problem is reported for evacuees in the 2008 Orange County California (USA) Freeway Triangle Wildfires.MethodsData was obtained retrospectively from Orange County Health Care Agency records regarding people who required medication while housed in evacuation shelters. Descriptive data was analysed using SPSS 17 and STATA 11.01.Results40,000 persons were evacuated during the wildfires. Sixty of the evacuees aged from 6 to 82 years were without necessary medications. Of the sixty, there were 26 females and 34 males. People requiring medication would present to a public health nurse in the shelter whom would contact the Disaster Health Officer to arrange scripts for medication. Of the 60 people, 67% were unable to contact a primary physician and 75% were able to be issued a script for needed medication. The most common prescribed medication was albuterol for asthma and lung disease, then narcotic pain relief medication and next medication for cardiovascular / hypertension conditions.ConclusionsResults show that life sustaining medication was required by people housed in an evacuation shelter. These people may not have had time to retrieve necessary medication if they had to evacuate quickly or may not have had an adequate supply of medication at the time of evacuation. Thus far there has been very little published on this issue however, our results show there is a need for pre-planning on behalf of people living in wildfire prone areas who require daily medication and are at risk for sudden evacuation. Our findings also highlight the important role provided by health workers in evacuation shelters in providing assistance for medication purposes.
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Nikolaychuk, Olga, Julia Pestova, and Aleksandr Yurin. "Wildfire Susceptibility Mapping in Baikal Natural Territory Using Random Forest." Forests 15, no. 1 (January 13, 2024): 170. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f15010170.
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Wildfires are a significant problem in Irkutsk Oblast. They are caused by climate change, thunderstorms, and human factors. In this study, we use the Random Forest machine learning method to map the wildfire susceptibility of Irkutsk Oblast based on data from remote sensing, meteorology, government forestry authorities, and emergency situations. The main contributions of the paper are the following: an improved domain model that describes information about weather conditions, vegetation type, and infrastructure of the region in the context of the possible risk of wildfires; a database of wildfires in Irkutsk Oblast from 2017 to 2020; the results of an analysis of factors that cause wildfires and risk assessment based on Random Forest in the form of fire hazard mapping. In this paper, we collected and visualized data on wildfires and factors influencing their occurrence: meteorological, topographic, characteristics of vegetation, and human activity (social factors). Data sets describing two classes, “fire” and “no fire”, were generated. We introduced a classification according to which the probability of a wildfire in each specific cell of the territory can be determined and a wildfire risk map built. The use of the Random Forest method allowed us to achieve the following risk assessment accuracy indicators: accuracy—0.89, F1-score—0.88, and AUC—0.96. The comparison of the results with earlier ones obtained using case-based reasoning revealed that the application of the case-based approach can be considered the initial stage for deeper investigations with the use of Random Forest for more accurate forecasting.
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Henry, Shelby, Maria B. Ospina, Liz Dennett, and Anne Hicks. "Assessing the Risk of Respiratory-Related Healthcare Visits Associated with Wildfire Smoke Exposure in Children 0–18 Years Old: A Systematic Review." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 16 (August 20, 2021): 8799. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168799.
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Wildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and intensity, and increasingly affect highly populated areas. Wildfire smoke impacts cardiorespiratory health; children are at increased risk due to smaller airways, a higher metabolic rate and ongoing development. The objective of this systematic review was to describe the risk of pediatric respiratory symptoms and healthcare visits following exposure to wildfire smoke. Medical and scientific databases and the grey literature were searched from inception until December 2020. Included studies evaluated pediatric respiratory-related healthcare visits or symptoms associated with wildfire smoke exposure. Prescribed burns, non-respiratory symptoms and non-pediatric studies were excluded. Risk of bias was evaluated using the National Toxicology Program’s Office of Health Assessment and Translation Risk of Bias Rating Tool. Data are presented narratively due to study heterogeneity. Of 2138 results, 1167 titles and abstracts were screened after duplicate removal; 65 full text screens identified 5 pre-post and 11 cross-sectional studies of rural, urban and mixed sites from the USA, Australia, Canada and Spain. There is a significant increase in respiratory emergency department visits and asthma hospitalizations within the first 3 days of exposure to wildfire smoke, particularly in children < 5 years old.
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Cote, Doug W., and Tara K. McGee. "An exploration of residents’ intended wildfire evacuation responses in Mt. Lorne, Yukon, Canada." Forestry Chronicle 90, no. 04 (August 2014): 498–502. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc2014-100.
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Wildfire evacuations disrupt people’s lives, create an additional hazard for emergency responders and residents, and are expensive to execute. Alternatives to evacuation are used in Australia and a few jurisdictions in the United States. Numerous studies have examined the “stay and defend” option during a wildfire in Australia, and evacuation alternatives have also been examined in the US. However, evacuation alternatives have not yet received scholarly attention in Canada. This study focused on the community of Mt. Lorne, Yukon, and explored residents’ perceptions of alternatives to evacuation due to wildfires, their evacuation intentions, and factors that influenced their intentions. Focus group participants planned to stay on their property despite a wildfire evacuation order because of the perceived safety of their property, and concerns about evacuating including leaving their property unprotected, losing harvested meat or other food stocks due to spoiling, and not knowing what to do with sled dog teams or livestock. However, some of these residents lacked the knowledge about how to stay on their property safely.
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Zhou, Jiahao, Wenyu Jiang, Fei Wang, Yuming Qiao, and Qingxiang Meng. "Comparing Accuracy of Wildfire Spread Prediction Models under Different Data Deficiency Conditions." Fire 7, no. 4 (April 16, 2024): 141. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire7040141.
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Wildfire is one of the most severe natural disasters globally, profoundly affecting natural ecology, economy, and health and safety. Precisely predicting the spread of wildfires has become an important research topic. Current fire spread prediction models depend on inputs from a variety of geographical and environmental variables. However, unlike the ideal conditions simulated in the laboratory, data gaps often occur in real wildfire scenarios, posing challenges to the accuracy and robustness of predictions. It is necessary to explore the extent to which different missing items affect prediction accuracy, thereby providing rational suggestions for emergency decision-making. In this paper, we tested how different conditions of missing data affect the prediction accuracy of existing wildfire spread models and quantified the corresponding errors. The final experimental results suggest that it is necessary to judge the potential impact of data gaps based on the geographical conditions of the study area appropriately, as there is no significant pattern of behavior yet identified. This study aims to simulate the impact of data scarcity on the accuracy of wildfire spread prediction models in real scenarios, thereby enabling researchers to better understand the priority of different environmental variables for the model and identify the acceptable degree of missing data and the indispensable data attributes. It offers new insights for developing spread prediction models applicable to real-world scenarios and rational assessment of the effectiveness of model outcomes.
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Ciciretti, Rebecca, Francisco Barraza, Francisco De la Barrera, Lorna Urquieta, and Sandra Cortes. "Relationship between Wildfire Smoke and Children’s Respiratory Health in the Metropolitan Cities of Central-Chile." Atmosphere 13, no. 1 (December 30, 2021): 58. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010058.
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Wildfire causes multiple problems for people living in cities. One of them is the deterioration of air quality as a result of wildfire smoke. This smoke can consequently have effects on human health. The present study aims to characterize the relationship between the occurrence of wildfires in central Chile and the effects on children’s respiratory health. Public databases provided the number of emergency care visits, wildfires, and concentration of air pollutants, demographics and meteorological variables for the regions of Santiago and Valparaiso from 2010 to 2013. Time series analysis was used monthly on health care visits to determine the relative health risk in children when in the presence of additional wildfires. Significant health risks were observed in Santiago for children younger than 1-year-old of bronchitis (RR 1.007, CI 95% 1.007–1.008; chronic lower respiratory diseases (RR 1.012, CI 95% 1.012–1.013); and pneumonia (RR 1.026 CI 95% 1.026–1.027) and in children aged one to four years old (RR 1.016 CI 95% 1.015–1.016). A dose-response relationship was also observed for pneumonia, showing that it affects younger children particularly when there is an increase in the number of wildfires. In the Region of Valparaíso, wildfires did not significantly change the risk of respiratory illness, this could be due to favorable ventilation. Currently, Santiago has an urgent need for monitoring and the evaluation of the damage to children’s respiratory health, along with the development of comprehensive prevention strategies.
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Badhan, Mukul, Kasra Shamsaei, Hamed Ebrahimian, George Bebis, Neil P. Lareau, and Eric Rowell. "Deep Learning Approach to Improve Spatial Resolution of GOES-17 Wildfire Boundaries Using VIIRS Satellite Data." Remote Sensing 16, no. 4 (February 18, 2024): 715. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs16040715.
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The rising severity and frequency of wildfires in recent years in the United States have raised numerous concerns regarding the improvement in wildfire emergency response management and decision-making systems, which require operational high temporal and spatial resolution monitoring capabilities. Satellites are one of the tools that can be used for wildfire monitoring. However, none of the currently available satellite systems provide both high temporal and spatial resolution. For example, GOES-17 geostationary satellite fire products have high temporal (1–5 min) but low spatial resolution (≥2 km), and VIIRS polar orbiter satellite fire products have low temporal (~12 h) but high spatial resolution (375 m). This work aims to leverage currently available satellite data sources, such as GOES and VIIRS, along with deep learning (DL) advances to achieve an operational high-resolution, both spatially and temporarily, wildfire monitoring tool. Specifically, this study considers the problem of increasing the spatial resolution of high temporal but low spatial resolution GOES-17 data products using low temporal but high spatial resolution VIIRS data products. The main idea is using an Autoencoder DL model to learn how to map GOES-17 geostationary low spatial resolution satellite images to VIIRS polar orbiter high spatial resolution satellite images. In this context, several loss functions and DL architectures are implemented and tested to predict both the fire area and the corresponding brightness temperature. These models are trained and tested on wildfire sites from 2019 to 2021 in the western U.S. The results indicate that DL models can improve the spatial resolution of GOES-17 images, leading to images that mimic the spatial resolution of VIIRS images. Combined with GOES-17 higher temporal resolution, the DL model can provide high-resolution near-real-time wildfire monitoring capability as well as semi-continuous wildfire progression maps.
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Niklas, Sarah, Dani Alexander, and Scott Dwyer. "Resilient Buildings and Distributed Energy: A Grassroots Community Response to the Climate Emergency." Sustainability 14, no. 6 (March 8, 2022): 3186. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14063186.
Abstract:
The severity and incidence of extreme weather events are increasing with climate change. In particular, wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting than before. Fuelled by long periods of dryness and high temperatures, the Australian wildfires of 2019/2020 were record breaking in terms of destruction and chaos. Rural communities were severely affected by power cuts disabling access to essential services. Following the wildfires, a concept for energy resilient public buildings (“Emergency Distributed Energy System”) emerged as a grassroots community idea from the wildfire-affected area of Gippsland, southeast Australia. A combination of desktop and empirical research explored international examples of energy resilience and climate mitigation, the local services and technologies that are needed in Gippsland, and the legal and regulatory challenges and enablers in Australia. The findings were informed by case studies of responses to natural disasters that included California and Greece (wildfires), New Zealand (earthquake), and India (cyclone). The results determined that community resilience can be increased by offering a more reliable electricity supply that would support greater social, political, and economic structures. The deployment of resilient energy systems should be driven by political will, economic incentives and working with communities to support a concerted shift towards low-emissions and distributed energy technologies.
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Brachman, Micah L., Richard Church, Benjamin Adams, and Danielle Bassett. "Wayfinding during a wildfire evacuation." Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal 29, no. 3 (December 24, 2019): 249–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/dpm-07-2019-0216.
Abstract:
Purpose Emergency evacuation plans are often developed under the assumption that evacuees will use wayfinding strategies such as taking the shortest distance route to their nearest exit. The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirical data from a wildfire evacuation analyzed to determine whether evacuees took a shortest distance route to their nearest exit and to identify any alternate wayfinding strategies that they may have used. Design/methodology/approach The wildfire evacuation analysis presented in this paper is the outcome of a natural experiment. A post-fire online survey was conducted, which included an interactive map interface that allowed evacuees to identify the route that they took. The survey results were integrated with several additional data sets using a GIS. Network analysis was used to compare the routes selected by evacuees to their shortest distance routes, and statistical hypothesis testing was employed to identify the wayfinding strategies that may have been used. Findings The network analysis revealed that 31 percent of evacuees took a shortest distance route to their nearest exit. Hypothesis testing showed that evacuees selected routes that had significantly longer distances and travel times than the shortest distance routes, and indicated that factors such as the downhill slope percentage of routes and the elevation of exits may have impacted the wayfinding process. Research limitations/implications This research is best regarded as a spatiotemporal snapshot of wayfinding behavior during a single wildfire evacuation, but could inspire additional research to establish more generalizable results. Practical implications This research may help emergency managers develop more effective wildfire evacuation plans. Originality/value This research presents an analysis of an original data set that contributes to the broader body of scientific knowledge on wayfinding and spatial behavior during emergency evacuations.
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Mohammad, Sohail. "Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Wildfire Exposure." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 34, s1 (May 2019): s152. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x19003418.
Abstract:
Introduction:Wildfires are life threatening incessant fires in thickly vegetated areas that spread extremely rapidly to human habitat and are difficult to control by human force. The impact of wildfires is enormous on population health and causes tremendous financial burden to individuals and communities.Aim:The aim is to understand the potential disease burden secondary to wildfires both at an individual and population level and reflect upon the immediate and delayed neuropsychiatric manifestations of smoke exposure.Methods:Data on wildfires associated direct and indirect costs on individual health and health care delivery appears to be scant. The effort of this presentation is to present the federal data from 2012 to 2016 on nationwide wildfires, estimated acreage consumed in wildfires, the population exposed, and deaths. Information was extracted from the National Interagency Fire Center, the United States Fire Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Through literature review on neuropsychological sequelae of wildfires smoke inhalation and associated trauma, the goal is to reflect upon potential healthcare burden secondary to neuropsychiatric manifestations.Results:Per National Center for Health Statistics, the national fire death rates from 2012 to 2016 ranged 10 to 11 per million population each year, and the property loss both residential and non-residential was estimated at 9 to 10 billion dollars each year. We know healthcare cost is expensive in the United States, and with the stated estimates, one can only envision the health care and public health system burden.Discussion:The characteristic neuropathology of carbon monoxide toxicity is bilateral Globus pallidus necrosis and the common neuropsychological symptoms include fatigue, affective conditions, emotional distress, memory deficits, sleep disturbance, vertigo, dementia, and psychosis. The health effects and associated disability demand policymakers to allocate resources for wildfire prevention/ containment and primary health care providers education, research, and building effective healthcare delivery systems.
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Moore, Linn E., Andre Oliveira, Raymond Zhang, Laleh Behjat, and Anne Hicks. "Impacts of Wildfire Smoke and Air Pollution on a Pediatric Population with Asthma: A Population-Based Study." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 3 (January 20, 2023): 1937. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031937.
Abstract:
Wildfires are increasing yearly in number and severity as a part of the evolving climate crisis. These fires are a significant source of air pollution, a common driver of flares in cardiorespiratory disease, including asthma, which is the most common chronic disease of childhood. Poorly controlled asthma leads to significant societal costs through morbidity, mortality, lost school and work time and healthcare utilization. This retrospective cohort study set in Calgary, Canada evaluates the relationship between asthma exacerbations during wildfire smoke events and equivalent low-pollution periods in a pediatric asthma population. Air pollution was based on daily average levels of PM2.5. Wildfire smoke events were determined by combining information from provincial databases and local monitors. Exposures were assumed using postal codes in the health record at the time of emergency department visits. Provincial claims data identified 27,501 asthma exacerbations in 57,375 children with asthma between 2010 to 2021. Wildfire smoke days demonstrated an increase in asthma exacerbations over the baseline (incidence rate ratio: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.02–1.24); this was not seen with air pollution in general. Increased rates of asthma exacerbations were also noted yearly in September. Asthma exacerbations were significantly decreased during periods of COVID-19 healthcare precautions.
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G, Murugesan. "AI Enabled Fire-Detecting Drone Using Deep Learning Model." International Journal of Innovative Research in Information Security 10, no. 03 (April 30, 2024): 142–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.26562/ijiris.2024.v1003.04.
Abstract:
Wildfires pose significant threats to both human lives and the environment, necessitating advanced technological solutions for early detection and rapid response. This project aims to design, develop, and implement an autonomous drone system equipped with cutting-edge fire detection technology leveraging deep learning concepts. The system's primary objective is to swiftly identify and locate wildfires, enabling timely intervention and mitigation efforts to enhance public safety and environmental protection. The proposed drone system integrates state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms, allowing it to analyze real-time aerial imagery for signs of fire outbreaks with high accuracy and efficiency. Through the utilization of convolutional neural networks(CNNs) trained on vast datasets of wildfire images, the system can recognize distinct patterns and characteristics associated with flames, smoke, and heat sources amidst varying environmental conditions. Key components of the autonomous drone system include advanced sensors such as infrared cameras and multispectral imaging devices, facilitating enhanced detection capabilities across different spectrums. The integration of these sensors enables the system to detect wildfires even in challenging scenarios such as dense foliage or low visibility conditions. Upon detection of potential wildfire activity, the autonomous drone employs intelligent navigation algorithms to swiftly navigate to the identified location for closer inspection and assessment. Real-time data transmission capabilities enable seamless communication with ground-based emergency response teams, providing critical information for prompt decision-making and deployment of firefighting resources.
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Abbasi, Jennifer. "Paradise’s Emergency Department Director Recalls California’s Worst Wildfire." JAMA 321, no. 12 (March 26, 2019): 1144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.0675.
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Batdorf, Brieanna, and Tara K. McGee. "Wildfire Smoke and Protective Actions in Canadian Indigenous Communities." Atmosphere 14, no. 8 (July 27, 2023): 1204. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14081204.
Abstract:
In Canada, Indigenous populations are disproportionately threatened by wildfire smoke and the associated adverse health impacts. This paper presents the results of a narrative review of 51 academic and related resources which explored protective action decision making during wildfire smoke events within Indigenous communities in Canada. A search of scholarly articles and other relevant sources yielded resources which were subject to thematic analysis and described in order to present a narrative review of current knowledge and gaps in research. A small and growing literature provides insights into protective actions taken by the general population during wildfire smoke events, but very little is known about protective actions taken by Indigenous peoples in Canada during wildfire smoke events. This lack of understanding hinders the capacity of decision makers to improve emergency management and minimize community health impacts of wildfire smoke.
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Tornevi, Andreas, Camilla Andersson, Ana Carvalho, Joakim Langner, and Bertil Forsberg. "Potential Health Impacts from a Wildfire Smoke Plume over Region Jämtland Härjedalen, Sweden." Atmosphere 14, no. 10 (September 26, 2023): 1491. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14101491.
Abstract:
In the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced widespread wildfires, particularly in the region of Jämtland Härjedalen during the final weeks of July. We previously conducted an epidemiological study and investigated acute respiratory health effects in eight municipalities relation to the wildfire air pollution. In this study, we aimed to estimate the potential health impacts under less favorable conditions with different locations of the major fires. Our scenarios focused on the most intense plume from the 2018 wildfire episode affecting the largest municipality, which is the region’s only city. Combining modeled PM2.5 concentrations, gridded population data, and exposure–response functions, we assessed the relative increase in acute health effects. The cumulative population-weighted 24 h PM2.5 exposure during the nine highest-level days reached 207 μg/m3 days for 63,227 inhabitants. We observed a small number of excess cases, particularly in emergency unit visits for asthma, with 13 additional cases compared to the normal 12. Overall, our scenario-based health impact assessment indicates minor effects on the studied endpoints due to factors such as the relatively small population, limited exposure period, and moderate increase in exposure compared to similar assessments. Nonetheless, considering the expected rise in fire potential due to global warming and the long-range transport of wildfire smoke, raising awareness of the potential health risks in this region is important.
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Stout, EdD, Rebecca A., Samantha Kostamo, BA, and Sheryl West, MS. "Burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma among wildfire responders." Journal of Emergency Management 19, no. 5 (September 1, 2021): 451–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5055/jem.0653.
Abstract:
Firefighting is an essential occupation that is hazardous and stressful. While researchers have established that firefighters are likely to experience burnout, compassion fatigue (CF), and vicarious trauma (VT), no studies to date have focused on these variables in a context specific to wildfire response. As wildfires and their intensity continue to be a growing concern in the Western United States, there is a need to understand the extent of burnout, CF, and VT among firefighters, particularly those who respond to wildfires. This study was conducted at a large metropolitan fire department located in Colorado (n = 186). There were three scales used for this study: the Maslach Burnout Inventory—General Survey, the Vicarious Trauma Scale, and the Compassion Fatigue Self-Test. Survey results indicated that the firefighters experienced emotional exhaustion (μ = 16.99), moderate depersonalization (μ = 11.12), low reduced personal accomplishment (μ = 29.29), extremely high CF (μ = 22.60), and moderate VT (μ = 29.15). There were no significant differences between wildfire responders and nonwildfire responders. However, firefighters who were midcareer (11-15 years of service) and those who were between the ages of 35 and 55 were statistically more likely to experience emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their younger and older peers, thus suggesting that further research is warranted to understand midcareer and midlife stressors among firefighters.
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Rosenthal, Annie, Eric Stover, and Rohini J. Haar. "Health and social impacts of California wildfires and the deficiencies in current recovery resources: An exploratory qualitative study of systems-level issues." PLOS ONE 16, no. 3 (March 26, 2021): e0248617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248617.
Abstract:
Background Wildfires in California have become more deadly and destructive in recent years, and four of the ten most destructive fires occurred in 2017 and 2018. Through interviews with service providers, this article explores how these recent wildfires have impacted surrounding communities and the role various recovery resources have played in responding to the short- and long-term health and social needs of survivors. Methods Using a purposive sampling methodology, we interviewed 21 health and social service personnel who assisted in wildfire recovery efforts in California in 2017 and 2018. The study participants worked or volunteered in medical facilities, social services agencies and philanthropy/nonprofit organizations located in communities affected by wildfires. Participants were asked about three common, overarching themes that fire-impacted communities navigate post-disaster: health issues, social issues, and response and recovery resources. Inductive coding was used to identify common subthemes. Results The two most frequently discussed social issues during interviews were housing and employment access. Mental and emotional well-being and access to health resources were identified as being the most challenging health concerns that survivors face post-disaster. Participants also identified the following private and public recovery resources that survivors use to attempt to restabilize following the fire: community support, county agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA,) insurance companies and philanthropic organizations. However, participants noted that the cumulative impacts of these efforts still leave many of their patients and clients without the resources needed to restabilize emotionally, financially and physically. Finally, participants spoke about the community-wide, downstream impacts of wildfires, noting that “survivors” are not only those whose health is immediately compromised by the disaster. Conclusion Given the worsening wildfire seasons in California, we must increase our understanding of both the scope of the health and social issues that survivors navigate following a disaster, as well as the effectiveness and sustainability of recovery resources available to survivors. We must also understand the “ripple effect” that wildfires have on surrounding communalities, impacting housing access, social services, and health care access. More research and support, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic, is urgently needed to improve our ability to support the health and social needs of wildfire survivors in the future.
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Mynard, C. Randall, Gordon N. Keating, PhD, and Paul M. Rich, PhD. "GIS for emergency response: Lessons from the Cerro Grande wildfire." Journal of Emergency Management 3, no. 1 (January 1, 2005): 19. http://dx.doi.org/10.5055/jem.2005.0005.
Abstract:
The May 2000 Cerro Grande wildfire swept through Los Alamos, New Mexico, forcing evacuation of Los Alamos National Laboratory and the communities of Los Alamos and White Rock. Use of geographic information system (GIS) technology for emergency response and post-fire mitigation provided valuable lessons about institutional operations, working relationships, and emergency preparedness. These lessons include the importance of: 1) GIS as an integrating framework for hazard assessment; 2) having a strong GIS capability in place; 3) coordinated emergency plans among GIS facilities; 4) reliable methods for locating and informing evacuated employees; 5) GIS data that are complete, backed up, and available during an emergency; 6) adaptation of GIS to emergency circumstances; 7) coordination within the GIS community; 8) integration of GIS into institutional operations; and 9) centralized data and metadata.
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Festa, Natalia, Kaitlin Fender Throgmorton, Kendra Davis-Plourde, David M. Dosa, Kai Chen, Emma Zang, Jill Kelly, and Thomas M. Gill. "Assessment of Regional Nursing Home Preparedness for and Regulatory Responsiveness to Wildfire Risk in the Western US." JAMA Network Open 6, no. 6 (June 26, 2023): e2320207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.20207.
Abstract:
ImportanceIt is uncertain whether emergency preparedness and regulatory oversight for US nursing homes are aligned with local wildfire risk.ObjectiveTo evaluate the likelihood that nursing homes at elevated risk of wildfire exposure meet US Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) emergency preparedness standards and to compare the time to reinspection by exposure status.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional study of nursing homes in the continental western US from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2019, was conducted using cross-sectional and survival analyses. The prevalence of high-risk facilities within 5 km of areas at or exceeding the 85th percentile of nationalized wildfire risk across areas overseen by 4 CMS regional offices (New Mexico, Mountain West, Pacific/Southwest, and Pacific Northwest) was determined. Critical emergency preparedness deficiencies cited during CMS Life Safety Code Inspections were identified. Data analysis was performed from October 10 to December 12, 2022.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome classified whether facilities were cited for at least 1 critical emergency preparedness deficiency during the observation window. Regionally stratified generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate associations between risk status and the presence and number of deficiencies, adjusted for nursing home characteristics. For the subset of facilities with deficiencies, differences in restricted mean survival time to reinspection were evaluated.ResultsOf the 2218 nursing homes in this study, 1219 (55.0%) were exposed to elevated wildfire risk. The Pacific/Southwest had the highest percentage of both exposed (680 of 870 [78.2%]) and unexposed (359 of 486 [73.9%]) facilities with 1 or more deficiencies. The Mountain West had the largest difference in the percentage of exposed (87 of 215 [40.5%]) vs unexposed (47 of 193 [24.4%]) facilities with 1 or more deficiencies. Exposed facilities in the Pacific Northwest had the greatest mean (SD) number of deficiencies (4.3 [5.4]). Exposure was associated with the presence of deficiencies in the Mountain West (odds ratio [OR], 2.12 [95% CI, 1.50-3.01]) and the presence (OR, 1.84 [95% CI, 1.55-2.18]) and number (rate ratio, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.06-1.83]) of deficiencies in the Pacific Northwest. Exposed Mountain West facilities with deficiencies were reinspected later, on average, than unexposed facilities (adjusted restricted mean survival time difference, 91.2 days [95% CI, 30.6-151.8 days]).Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cross-sectional study, regional heterogeneity in nursing home emergency preparedness for and regulatory responsiveness to local wildfire risk was observed. These findings suggest that there may be opportunities to improve the responsiveness of nursing homes to and regulatory oversight of surrounding wildfire risk.
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Filipponi, Federico. "Exploitation of Sentinel-2 Time Series to Map Burned Areas at the National Level: A Case Study on the 2017 Italy Wildfires." Remote Sensing 11, no. 6 (March 14, 2019): 622. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11060622.
Abstract:
Satellite data play a major role in supporting knowledge about fire severity by delivering rapid information to map fire-damaged areas in a precise and prompt way. The high availability of free medium-high spatial resolution optical satellite data, offered by the Copernicus Programme, has enabled the development of more detailed post-fire mapping. This research study deals with the exploitation of Sentinel-2 time series to map burned areas, taking advantages from the high revisit frequency and improved spatial and spectral resolution of the MSI optical sensor. A novel procedure is here presented to produce medium-high spatial resolution burned area mapping using dense Sentinel-2 time series with no a priori knowledge about wildfire occurrence or burned areas spatial distribution. The proposed methodology is founded on a threshold-based classification based on empirical observations that discovers wildfire fingerprints on vegetation cover by means of an abrupt change detection procedure. Effectiveness of the procedure in mapping medium-high spatial resolution burned areas at the national level was demonstrated for a case study on the 2017 Italy wildfires. Thematic maps generated under the Copernicus Emergency Management Service were used as reference products to assess the accuracy of the results. Multitemporal series of three different spectral indices, describing wildfire disturbance, were used to identify burned areas and compared to identify their performances in terms of spectral separability. Result showed a total burned area for the Italian country in the year 2017 of around 1400 km2, with the proposed methodology generating a commission error of around 25% and an omission error of around 40%. Results demonstrate how the proposed procedure allows for the medium-high resolution mapping of burned areas, offering a benchmark for the development of new operational downstreaming services at the national level based on Copernicus data for the systematic monitoring of wildfires.
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Woo, Matthew, Kathy Tin Ying Hui, Kexin Ren, Kai Ernn Gan, and Amy Kim. "Reconstructing an Emergency Evacuation by Ground and Air the wildfire in Fort McMurray, alberta, Canada." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2604, no. 1 (January 2017): 63–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2604-08.
Abstract:
The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, Canada—the costliest wildfire disaster in Canadian history—led to an areawide evacuation by road and air. Traffic count and flight data were used to assess the characteristics of the evacuation, including estimates of people movements by vehicle and aircraft. The vehicle counts were compared first with historic values to examine traffic patterns and were then used to create an evacuation response curve, which revealed an expected S-shaped curve and highlighted how quickly the evacuation occurred. Finally, data for people evacuated by aircraft were combined with data for people evacuated by ground vehicle to construct a curve of the cumulative number of evacuees leaving the region. This study identified several key implications for evacuation planning and operations. The decision to evacuate residents to temporary shelters in the north was instrumental in the quick removal of everyone from immediate danger via all possible exits. Although an unplanned contraflow operation added roadway capacity out of Fort McMurray, the underuse of the secondary route suggested that the management of traffic routing might have reduced congestion. The evacuation response curve emphasized the volatility of the wildfires, with the resulting evacuations occurring under conditions of a greater immediacy than hurricane evacuations. Finally, the significant role of air transportation in this evacuation indicated that multimodal emergency evacuation plans may be critical for remote communities and sparse networks. These findings may be applied to evacuation planning and policy to improve the efficiency and efficacy of evacuations.
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Black, Brendan, Joseph Rafferty, Jose Santos, Andrew Ennis, Philip Perry, and Maurice McKee. "Bluetooth 5.0 Suitability Assessment for Emergency Response within Fire Environments." Electronics 12, no. 22 (November 10, 2023): 4599. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics12224599.
Abstract:
Natural disasters, such as wildfires, can cause widespread devastation. Future-proofing infrastructure, such as buildings and bridges, through technological advancements is crucial to minimize their impact. Fires in disasters often stem from damaged fuel lines and electrical equipment, such as the 2018 California wildfire caused by a power line fault. To enhance safety, IoT applications can continuously monitor the health of emergency personnel. Using Bluetooth 5.0 and wearables in mesh networks, these apps can alert others about an individual’s location during emergencies. However, fire can disrupt wireless networks. This study assesses Bluetooth 5.0’s performance in transmitting signals in fire conditions. It examined received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values in a front open-fire chamber using both Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and mesh networks. The experiment considered three transmission heights of 0.61, 1.22, and 1.83 m and two distances of 11.13 m and 1.52 m. The study demonstrated successful signal transmission with a maximum loss of only 2 dB when transmitting through the fire. This research underscores the potential for reliable communication in fire-prone environments, improving safety during natural disasters.
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Kulig, Judith C., Dana Edge, and Stephanie Smolenski. "Wildfire disasters: Implications for rural nurses." Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal 17, no. 3 (August 2014): 126–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aenj.2014.04.003.
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Sowby, Robert B., and Braxton W. Porter. "Water Supply and Firefighting: Early Lessons from the 2023 Maui Fires." Water 16, no. 4 (February 18, 2024): 600. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w16040600.
Abstract:
Even though drinking water utilities are not meant to fight wildfires, they quickly become stakeholders, if not first responders, when their resources are needed for firefighting. The August 2023 wildfires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, USA, have highlighted weaknesses at this intersection. While attention has focused on the wildfire causes or water quality impacts afterward, few studies have analyzed the response. We review this extreme case to support disaster-response lessons for water utilities and to guide further research and policy. First, emergency water releases were not available in a timely manner. Second, fire and wind toppled power lines, causing power outages that inhibited pumping water. Third, many structures were a total loss despite water doused on them, consuming valuable water. Finally, water was lost through damaged premise plumbing in burned structures, further reducing system pressure. These conditions emphasize that water utilities need to access emergency water supplies quickly, establish reliable backup electricity, coordinate with firefighters on priority water uses, and shut valves in burned areas to preserve water. While further research will certainly follow, we present these early lessons as starting points.
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Yu, Anthony C., Hector Lopez Hernandez, Andrew H. Kim, Lyndsay M. Stapleton, Reuben J. Brand, Eric T. Mellor, Cameron P. Bauer, et al. "Wildfire prevention through prophylactic treatment of high-risk landscapes using viscoelastic retardant fluids." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 42 (September 30, 2019): 20820–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907855116.
Abstract:
Polyphosphate fire retardants are a critical tactical resource for fighting fires in the wildland and in the wildland–urban interface. Yet, application of these retardants is limited to emergency suppression strategies because current formulations cannot retain fire retardants on target vegetation for extended periods of time through environmental exposure and weathering. New retardant formulations with persistent retention to target vegetation throughout the peak fire season would enable methodical, prophylactic treatment strategies of landscapes at high risk of wildfires through prolonged prevention of ignition and continual impediment to active flaming fronts. Here we develop a sprayable, environmentally benign viscoelastic fluid comprising biopolymers and colloidal silica to enhance adherence and retention of polyphosphate retardants on common wildfire-prone vegetation. These viscoelastic fluids exhibit appropriate wetting and rheological responses to enable robust retardant adherence to vegetation following spray application. Further, laboratory and pilot-scale burn studies establish that these materials drastically reduce ignition probability before and after simulated weathering events. Overall, these studies demonstrate how these materials actualize opportunities to shift the approach of retardant-based wildfire management from reactive suppression to proactive prevention at the source of ignitions.
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Ba, Rui, Weiguo Song, Xiaolian Li, Zixi Xie, and Siuming Lo. "Integration of Multiple Spectral Indices and a Neural Network for Burned Area Mapping Based on MODIS Data." Remote Sensing 11, no. 3 (February 6, 2019): 326. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11030326.
Abstract:
Since wildfires have occurred frequently in recent years, accurate burned area mapping is required for wildfire severity assessment and burned land reconstruction. Satellite remote sensing is an effective technology that can provide valuable information for wildfire assessment. However, the common approaches based on using a single satellite image to promptly detect the burned areas have low accuracy and limited applicability. This paper develops a new burned area mapping method that surpasses the detection accuracy of previous methods, while still using a single Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor image. The key innovation is integrating optimal spectral indices and a neural network algorithm. We used the traditional empirical formula method, multi-threshold method and visual interpretation method to extract the sample sets of five typical types (burned area, vegetation, cloud, bare soil, and cloud shadow) from the MODIS data of several wildfires in the American states of Nevada, Washington and California in 2016. Afterward, the separability index M was adopted to assess the capacity of seven spectral bands and 13 spectral indices to distinguish the burned area from four unburned land cover types. Based on the separability analysis between the burned area and unburned areas, the spectral indices with an M value higher than 1.0 were employed to generate the training sample sets that were assessed to have an overall accuracy of 98.68% and Kappa coefficient of 97.46%. Finally, we utilized a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) to learn the spectral differences of different types from the training sample sets and obtain the output burned area map. The proposed method was applied to three wildfire cases in the American states of Idaho, Nevada and Oregon in 2017. A comparison of detection results between the new MODIS-based burned area map and the reference burned area map compiled from Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) data indicates that the proposed method can effectively exploit the spectral characteristics of various land cover types. Also, this new method can achieve higher accuracy with the reduction of commission error (CE, >10%) and omission error (OE, >6%) compared to the traditional empirical formula method. The new burned area mapping method could help managers and the public perform more effective wildfire assessments and emergency management.
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Yi, Carine J., Roy S. Park, Osamu Murao, and Eiji Okamoto. "Emergency Management: Building an O-D Ranking Model Using GIS Network Analysis." Journal of Disaster Research 7, no. 6 (December 1, 2012): 793–802. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/jdr.2012.p0793.
Abstract:
Enormous natural disasters due to climate change are frequently observed all around the world. Unexpected catastrophes become a huge threat for community residents. Activating an evacuation order in a large-scale incident such as a wildfire depends on how information can be acquired in real time. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide highly analyzed map products to decision makers. Under real wildfire circumstances, GIS map products are very effective materials that include collected and analyzed information and results visualized to enable interpretation of the situation in real time. The challenge of this study is the construction of an optimal route selection method using a GIS network for issuing evacuation-order decisions. The most effective evacuation routes were defined by networking analysis using 2007 San Diego wildfire datasets. The shortest evacuation routes were calculated between affected points and shelters and chosen automatically by an O-D (Origin - Destination) ranking model. Considerable roads and land features and other environmental factors when the closest facilities and routes are selected, selection criteria and approach methods can be suggested for future events. Using this model, accessible routes can be chosen any time and any place, even during an ongoing evacuation. Decision makers should therefore provide proper evacuation orders to rescue crews using this O-D ranking model.
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Christianson, Amy. "Social science research on Indigenous wildfire management in the 21st century and future research needs." International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, no. 2 (2015): 190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf13048.
Abstract:
This article reviews social science research on Indigenous wildfire management in Australia, Canada and the United States after the year 2000 and explores future research needs in the field. In these three countries, social science research exploring contemporary Indigenous wildfire management has been limited although there have been interesting findings about how Indigenous culture and knowledge influences fire management. Research with Indigenous communities may be limited not because of a lack of interest by social scientists, but rather by obstacles to doing research with Indigenous communities, such as ethical and time concerns. Research needs on Indigenous wildfire management are presented, centred on the four pillars of emergency management (preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery).
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Mahdi, Ahmed Saleem, and Sawsen Abdulhadi Mahmood. "An Edge Computing Environment for Early Wildfire Detection." Annals of Emerging Technologies in Computing 6, no. 3 (July 1, 2022): 56–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.33166/aetic.2022.03.005.
Abstract:
Recently, an increasing demand is growing for installing a rapid response system in forest regions to enable an immediate and appropriate response to wildfires before they spread across vast areas. This paper introduces a multilevel system for early wildfire detection to support public authorities to immediately specify and attend to emergency demands. The presented work is designed and implemented within Edge Computing Infrastructure. At the first level; the dataset samples of wildfire represented by a set of video sequences are collected and labelled for training mode purposes. Then, YOLOv5 deep learning model is adopted in our framework to build a trained model for distinguishing the fire event against non-fire events in binary classification. The proposed system structure comprises IoT entities provided with camera sensor capabilities and NVIDIA Jetson Nano Developer kit as an edge computing environment. At the first level, a video camera is employed to assemble environment information received by the micro-controller middle level to handle and detect the possible fire event presenting in the interested area. The last level is characterized as making a decision by sending a text message and snapshot images to the cloud server. Meanwhile, a set of commands are sent to IoT nodes to operate the speakers and sprinklers, which are strategically assumed to place on the ground to give an alarm and prevent wildlife loss. The proposed system was tested and evaluated using a wildfire dataset constructed by our efforts. The experimental results exhibited 98% accurate detection of fire events in the video sequence. Further, a comparison study is performed in this research to confirm the results obtained from recent methods.
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Yang, Zhongzhen, Liquan Guo, and Zaili Yang. "Emergency logistics for wildfire suppression based on forecasted disaster evolution." Annals of Operations Research 283, no. 1-2 (August 5, 2017): 917–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2598-9.
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Tavra, M., I. Racetin, and J. Peroš. "COMBINING SOCIAL MEDIA AND AUTHORITATIVE DATA FOR CRISIS MAPPING: A CASE STUDY OF A WILDFIRE REACHING CROATIAN CITY OF SPLIT." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-3/W8 (August 23, 2019): 415–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-3-w8-415-2019.
Abstract:
<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Due to climate changes, wildfire breakouts get more frequent and difficult to control. In the mid-July 2017, the wildfire spread from wildland to the city of Split, the second-largest city in Croatia. This unpredictable spread almost caused the collapse of emergency response systems. Fortunately, a greater tragedy was avoided with the composure of the responsible services and the help of the citizens. The citizens helped in extinguishing the fire and timely provided the significant amount of disaster-related information on different platforms and through social media. In this paper, we address the problem of identifying useful Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and georeferenced social media, for improving situation awareness while the wildfire was reaching the Croatian city of Split. Additionally, we combine social media with other external data sources (e. g. Sentinel-2 satellite images) and authoritative data (e.g. Croatian National Protection and Rescue Directorate official data and Public Fire Department of Split data) to establish the geographical relations between the wildfire phenomena and social media messages. In this manner, we seek to leverage the existing knowledge and data about the spatiotemporal characteristics of the Split wildfire in order to improve the identification of useful information from georeferenced social media with other integrated data sources that can be valuable for improving situation awareness in wildfire events.</p>
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Rochoux, M. C., S. Ricci, D. Lucor, B. Cuenot, and A. Trouvé. "Towards predictive data-driven simulations of wildfire spread – Part I: Reduced-cost Ensemble Kalman Filter based on a Polynomial Chaos surrogate model for parameter estimation." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 14, no. 11 (November 10, 2014): 2951–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2951-2014.
Abstract:
Abstract. This paper is the first part in a series of two articles and presents a data-driven wildfire simulator for forecasting wildfire spread scenarios, at a reduced computational cost that is consistent with operational systems. The prototype simulator features the following components: an Eulerian front propagation solver FIREFLY that adopts a regional-scale modeling viewpoint, treats wildfires as surface propagating fronts, and uses a description of the local rate of fire spread (ROS) as a function of environmental conditions based on Rothermel's model; a series of airborne-like observations of the fire front positions; and a data assimilation (DA) algorithm based on an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) for parameter estimation. This stochastic algorithm partly accounts for the nonlinearities between the input parameters of the semi-empirical ROS model and the fire front position, and is sequentially applied to provide a spatially uniform correction to wind and biomass fuel parameters as observations become available. A wildfire spread simulator combined with an ensemble-based DA algorithm is therefore a promising approach to reduce uncertainties in the forecast position of the fire front and to introduce a paradigm-shift in the wildfire emergency response. In order to reduce the computational cost of the EnKF algorithm, a surrogate model based on a polynomial chaos (PC) expansion is used in place of the forward model FIREFLY in the resulting hybrid PC-EnKF algorithm. The performance of EnKF and PC-EnKF is assessed on synthetically generated simple configurations of fire spread to provide valuable information and insight on the benefits of the PC-EnKF approach, as well as on a controlled grassland fire experiment. The results indicate that the proposed PC-EnKF algorithm features similar performance to the standard EnKF algorithm, but at a much reduced computational cost. In particular, the re-analysis and forecast skills of DA strongly relate to the spatial and temporal variability of the errors in the ROS model parameters.
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Rochoux, M. C., S. Ricci, D. Lucor, B. Cuenot, and A. Trouvé. "Towards predictive data-driven simulations of wildfire spread – Part I: Reduced-cost Ensemble Kalman Filter based on a Polynomial Chaos surrogate model for parameter estimation." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions 2, no. 5 (May 9, 2014): 3289–349. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhessd-2-3289-2014.
Abstract:
Abstract. This paper is the first part in a series of two articles and presents a data-driven wildfire simulator for forecasting wildfire spread scenarios, at a reduced computational cost that is consistent with operational systems. The prototype simulator features the following components: a level-set-based fire propagation solver FIREFLY that adopts a regional-scale modeling viewpoint, treats wildfires as surface propagating fronts, and uses a description of the local rate of fire spread (ROS) as a function of environmental conditions based on Rothermel's model; a series of airborne-like observations of the fire front positions; and a data assimilation algorithm based on an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) for parameter estimation. This stochastic algorithm partly accounts for the non-linearities between the input parameters of the semi-empirical ROS model and the fire front position, and is sequentially applied to provide a spatially-uniform correction to wind and biomass fuel parameters as observations become available. A wildfire spread simulator combined with an ensemble-based data assimilation algorithm is therefore a promising approach to reduce uncertainties in the forecast position of the fire front and to introduce a paradigm-shift in the wildfire emergency response. In order to reduce the computational cost of the EnKF algorithm, a surrogate model based on a polynomial chaos (PC) expansion is used in place of the forward model FIREFLY in the resulting hybrid PC-EnKF algorithm. The performance of EnKF and PC-EnKF is assessed on synthetically-generated simple configurations of fire spread to provide valuable information and insight on the benefits of the PC-EnKF approach as well as on a controlled grassland fire experiment. The results indicate that the proposed PC-EnKF algorithm features similar performance to the standard EnKF algorithm, but at a much reduced computational cost. In particular, the re-analysis and forecast skills of data assimilation strongly relate to the spatial and temporal variability of the errors in the ROS model parameters.
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Wu, Rong-Yu, Xi-Cheng Xie, and Yu-Jun Zheng. "Firefighting Drone Configuration and Scheduling for Wildfire Based on Loss Estimation and Minimization." Drones 8, no. 1 (January 10, 2024): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones8010017.
Abstract:
Drones have been increasingly used in firefighting to improve the response speed and reduce the dangers to human firefighters. However, few studies simultaneously consider fire spread prediction, drone scheduling, and the configuration of supporting staff and supplies. This paper presents a mathematical model that estimates wildfire spread and economic losses simultaneously. The model can also help us to determine the minimum number of firefighting drones in preparation for wildfire in a given wild area. Next, given a limited number of firefighting drones, we propose a method for scheduling the drones in response to wildfire occurrence to minimize the expected loss using metaheuristic optimization. We demonstrate the performance advantages of water wave optimization over a set of other metaheuristic optimization algorithms on 72 test instances simulated on selected suburb areas of Hangzhou, China. Based on the optimization results, we can pre-define a comprehensive plan of scheduling firefighting drone and configuring support staff in response to a set of scenarios of wildfire occurrences, significantly improving the emergency response efficiency and reducing the potential losses.
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Bezanson, Joshua, Gwynn Curran-Sills, Dirk Chisholm, and Kevin Hanrahan. "Canada Task Force 2 Medical Team Deployment to the Fort McMurray Wildfire." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 32, S1 (April 2017): S112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x17003211.
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Kearns, DSc, Chris, and Tanveer Islam, PhD, CFM. "Analysis of 9-1-1 call data from an emergency management perspective: A case study of the city of Lethbridge." Journal of Emergency Management 16, no. 5 (September 1, 2018): 337. http://dx.doi.org/10.5055/jem.2018.0382.
Abstract:
This article examines 9-1-1 call data of the City of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada over a year to find discernible spatial and temporal trends that may be useful to emergency response or better delivery of emergency management services. The spatial analysis includes Geographic Information Systems hotspot analysis of cellular and landline emergency calls with respect to critical (emergency and healthcare) facilities as well as emergency calls from residential landlines. The temporal analysis looks at hourly, daily, and monthly patterns of emergency calls and the factors driving up the call volumes in certain periods. It also examines emergency call volumes before, during, and after a major disaster (wildfire) event. The article concludes with summarizing the findings and identifying the areas for future research.
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McLennan, Jim, and Adrian Birch. "A potential crisis in wildfire emergency response capability? Australia's volunteer firefighters." Environmental Hazards 6, no. 2 (January 2005): 101–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hazards.2005.10.003.