Citation

Nunes AN, Figueiredo A, Pinto CD, Lourenço L. Fire (Basel) 2023; 6(5): e194.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publications Institute)

DOI

10.3390/fire6050194

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Vulnerability assessment is a vital component of wildfire management. This research focuses on the evaluation of wildfire vulnerability in the Central Region of Portugal, an area historically affected by catastrophic fire events. The overall methodology entailed applying an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to the relevant spatial variables for evaluating vulnerability associated with exposure, sensitivity, and response capacity at landscape and the wildland-urban interface (WUI) scale. Of the selected criteria, the existence of fuel in direct contact with built-up areas, population density, and firefighters' travel time were considered the most important criteria for inclusion in the vulnerability map. At landscape scale, 31% of the Central Region presents high and very high classes of vulnerability, while 22% of WUIs are classified as highly vulnerable to fire. Although the inland areas emerge as the most vulnerable, this approach enables scattered vulnerable hotspots to be identified in almost all of the Central Region. The results could be very helpful in terms of developing and enhancing local policies to mitigate human and material damage.

According to statistics from the International Tunneling and the Underground Space Association (ITA), in recent years, the tunnels under construction in China account for about 50% of the world's total tunnels under construction. The rapid development of tunnel construction has also brought significant fire safety hazards [3,4,5]. Ventilation and smoke extraction facilities in tunnels under construction cannot be set according to the requirements of the completed operating tunnel, and in the event of a fire, smoke is very difficult to control; the consequences of this are likely very serious. Figure 2 shows two typical structures of a tunnel under construction, and the typical characteristics of fire accidents. In the first scenario, the tunnel under construction consists of a vertical or inclined shaft (the construction passageway) and an excavation tunnel with two working faces. In the second scenario, one end of the tunnel under construction is the working face, and the other end is connected to the outside.

Language: en

Keywords

analytical hierarchy process; central Portugal; urban interface; vulnerability; wildfires