Around the world wildfires are taking hold like never before, putting communities, lives, vital infrastructure, buildings, livelihoods, the environment and air quality at risk. It is a major challenge for our members on the frontline around the world and sadly lives have been lost.
In the US alone, our members are reporting how 79 large fires have burned l.5 million acres 12 states. More than 21,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the country, staffing more than 1,400 engines (pumps or wildland units) and nearly 200 helicopters. In addition, aerial assets (air tankers) of all shape and sizes are working with ground crews to slow and cut off fire spread. Wildfires are burning across Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.
In Greece, UK firefighters are being deployed to tackle unprecedented wildfires in the south of the country. Around the world wildfires are becoming more intense and more destructive and this phenomenon has been linked this week to climate change in the IPCC’s latest assessment on global warming. It is indeed a global problem that the international fire community is taking action to address, but it’s no easy task.
We must share new and emerging technology, best practices, lessons learned and resources if we are to make a real difference to this global problem. New technology is already having an impact. Specialist software used to model the changing behaviour of wildfires can complement the hard experience of front-line crews to enable better response planning, ensuring available equipment and resources are deployed to maximum effect.
"With so much still to learn about wildfires and how to deal with them we will be maximising opportunities for our international community to share knowledge and best practice to meet this growing and deadly challenge."
Hundreds of high-definition remote location cameras are already being used in high risk areas such as California, Nevada and Oregon in the US to spot potential fires with artificial intelligence able to distinguish between smoke plumes and morning fog.
Drone and satellite imagery also plays an increasingly important role in mapping fire boundaries and hot spots to enable a more targeted response.
Light detection and ranging topography maps can aid decisions on forest management, infrastructure planning and preparation for wildfires, as well as floods, tsunamis and landslides. When combined with fire behaviour computer simulation based on weather and other variables, it can reveal much that can help prepare and plan for fire risk as well as designing optimal responses.
Beyond the work of those tackling fires, fire engineers around the world are innovating, looking at suppression systems, fire resistant building materials and advancing equipment and modelling tools.
With so much still to learn about wildfires and how to deal with them we will be maximising opportunities for our international community to share knowledge and best practice to meet this growing and deadly challenge.
To find out more about the benefits of knowledge sharing opportunities and becoming a member click here.