Wildfire Management

Problem:

Despite the ecological benefits of fire, wildfires have become a significant global concern due to their increasing intensity, size, and frequency, causing significant societal consequences. A notable example is the 2025 Los Angeles wildfire, which resulted in approximately 29 fatalities and more than 16.200 structures destroyed. Wildfire problem derivates from interconnected factors, including climate change, inadequate land management, and human activities. Climate change intensifies meteorological, biological, and anthropogenic interactions, contributing to the complexity of Extreme wildfire events (EWEs). Additionally, inappropriate land use, such as planting flammable non-native species, and rural depopulation heighten wildfire risks.  This new wildfire regime is characterized by an unpredictable behavior. As a result, regions historically unaffected by wildfires, such as Northern Europe, are now experiencing more frequent events. Even in areas where such events commonly occur, are often unprepared to cope with the unexpected behavior and extent of the damage caused. In this context, traditional fire suppression and risk methods are proving insufficient, particularly when dealing with EWEs, which  often beyond suppression capabilities. Therefore, it is urgent to reconsider the existing knowledge, policies, practices and tools applied in wildfire management to ensure they address the evolving complexity associated with EWEs.

Experts:

Publications:

  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Yang, M., Sousa, H.S., Stewart, M.G., and Matos, J.C. 2023. Dynamic thresholds for the resilience assessment of road traffic networks to wildfires. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, vol. 238, October 2023, 109407. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2023.109407.
  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Sousa, H. S., Matos, J. C., and Stewart, M. G. 2023. GIS-based methodology for prioritization of preparedness interventions on road transport under wildfire events. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 99, 104126. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104126.
  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Sousa, H., Stewart, M.G. and Matos, J.C. 2023. Improving Societal Resilience Through a GIS-based Approach to Manage Road Transport Networks Under Wildfire Hazards. Transportation Engineering, vol. 15, 100219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.treng.2023.100219.
  • Arango, E., Jiménez, P., Nogal, M., Sousa, S., Stewart, G. M., and Matos J.C. Enhancing infrastructure resilience in wildfire management to face extreme events: Insights from the Iberian Peninsula. Climate Risk Management, vol 44, 2024, 100595. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2024.100595.
  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Jiménez, P., Sousa, H. S., Stewart, M. G., and Matos, J. C. 2023. Policies towards the resilience of road-based transport networks to wildfire events. the Iberian case. Transportation Research Procedia 71, 61–68, XV Conference on Transport Engineering, CIT2023. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2023.11.058.
  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Dou, Y., Sousa, H., Matos, J., and Stewart, M. Towards Fire-Resilient Landscapes: Strategies for Reducing Exposure to Extreme Wildfires. 34th European Safety and Reliability Conference - ESREL, 23–27 June 2024, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. https://esrel2024.com/esrel-2024-collection.
  • Arango, E., Nogal, M., Yang, M., Sousa, H. S., Stewart, M. G., and Matos, J. C. 2023. Effectiveness assessment of adaptation to build resilient road network to wildfires. 14th International Conference on Applications of Statistics and Probability in Civil Engineering, ICASP14, Dublin, Ireland. URL http://hdl.handle.net/2262/103215.

Projects: