Parts of Scotland receive some of the highest levels of rainfall in Europe, but we also experience periods of intense drying when the danger of wild fires can be severe.
Wildfires cause significant damage to agricultural, forestry, biodiversity, recreational and sporting interests, and threaten infrastructure, property, and life
Wildfires place a significant operational and cost burden on the Fire and Rescue Service, directly in fighting wildfires, and in the requirement to redeploy resources to maintain geographic coverage
The aim of the project is to contribute to the development of a Fire Danger Rating System for the Scottish environment and vegetation
Wildfires destroy large and small with impunity
Wildfires destroy large and small with impunity
Understanding how fires become established and spread in complex vegetation is challenging
The project is carrying out field studies to examine fires spread in Scottish vegetation types (Andy Taylor discussing vegetation characteristics with Rory Hadden and colleagues)
Determining the quantities and moisture contents of different fuels are integral to modelling potential fire risks
Numerous weather, vegetation and soil parameters are included within the rating system model to predict the level of fire risk.
The long-lasting Decker fire which began on Sep. 08, 2019, is still continuing to burn on Oct. 16, 2019, in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness of Colorado. The fire started as a lightning strike and has now spread to 8,464 acres and is 30% contained at present. The difficulties in fighting this fire according to Inciweb are: "Low humidity and poor overnight recoveries allowed fuels to continue to dry.
Firefighters battled wildfires at a scale not seen for 20 years in Spain and southern France was placed on unprecedented red alert as much of western Europe sweltered in an extreme early-summer heatwave on Thursday.