Rekindle Dynamics Essay -- Emergency Management

There are few natural phenomena with the scope and complexity of a forest fire (Van Wagner [1]). Rekindles or reignitions that reburn an area over which a previous fire has passed but leaving fuel that later ignites due to latent heat, sparks, or embers (NWCG [2]) is an amazing part of that phenomena. For instance fuel complexes that exhibit heavy fuel loads and deep organic layers. Namely under the decomposing leaf litter there are a compact organic horizon in which the ground or subsurface fires will remain burning slowly (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3]). Near rivers, peat bogs, old forests, and large decaying logs are prone to such fire persistence. As a result of the dryness left after the passage of the main fire front. Especially in major dry spells or droughts (Henderson and Muraro [4], Alexander [5]). Such underground burning in a smouldering stage can erupt into flames when it gets the surface exposing this heated fuel to air (6). Throughout the summer of 2010, Portugal had 14,551 primary wildfires. 17.2% of them rekindled in an additional 2,497 fires, leading to a total of 17,048 which accounted for 95% of the total annual burnt area of 132,241 ha (Pacheco [7]). These figures might be worse. Several authors suggest that the amount of rekindled forest fires is higher than the officially reported (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8]). Expert-judgment elicitation in our interviews points to the double. Even assuming that the available information is correct, there are too many rekindles (Beighley and Hyde [9]). This is a concerning situation that has gotten worse over the years (ANIF [8]), and results from ineffective mop-up operations (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8], Beighley and Hyde [9], ISA [10], Lourenà §o [11], Murdock... .... 387-395, 2005. [17] AFN, I., Monitorizaà §Ãƒ £o e Avaliaà §Ãƒ £o do Plano Nacional de Defesa da Floresta Contra Incà ªndios, 2009/2010 - Relatà ³rio Final Preliminar, Autoridade Florestal Nacional, 2011. [18] Fernandes, P. M., â€Å"Forest fires in Galicia (Spain): The outcome of unbalanced fire management,† Journal of Forest Economics, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 155-157, 2008. [19] Resoluà §Ãƒ £o do Conselho de Ministros n. º 65/2006, PNDFCI, 2006. [20] Oliveira, T., "Relatà ³rio da visita ao Chile," Protecà §Ãƒ £o Florestal, grupo Portucel Soporcel, 2011. [21] Ahrens, M., Brush, Grass, and Forest Fires, 0877650357, National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division, 2010. [22] Pacheco, A. P., Oliveira, T., & Claro, J., "Simulation analysis of the impact of ignitions, rekindles and false alarms on the performance of forest fire suppression," FEUP, University of Porto, 2012.