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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Greg Penney; Daryoush Habibi; Marcus Cattani
Publication Date: 2019

This paper provides analysis of international fire service siege wildfire suppression thresholds and reports on the effect of forest fuel structure, fire weather condition and terrain on the suitability of suppression strategies. Further, this study applies a fire engineering approach whereby siege wildfire behaviour is deterministically assessed against firefighter tenability thresholds. This research is significant as it is the first study to consider human tenability as a factor in determining appropriateness of wildfire suppression strategies and tactics. The results clearly demonstrate offensive siege wildfire suppression involving direct head fire attacks by personnel and appliances exposes firefighters to untenable conditions well in advance of the head fire edge. Accordingly fire services may need to consider earlier instigation of defensive strategies and increased reliance on aerial wildfire suppression.

Online Links
Citation: Penney, Greg; Habibi, Daryoush; Cattani, Marcus. 2019. Firefighter tenability and its influence on wildfire suppression. Fire Safety Journal 106:38-51.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Fire Behavior    Fire Prevention    Fuels    Hazard and Risk    Planning    Safety    Weather
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    International    National
Keywords:
  • fire suppression
  • firefighter
  • firefighter exposure
  • firefighting
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 57715