Spatial Analysis of Fires in Vilnius City in 2010–2012

GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY

In Mediterranean climate areas, wildfires are one of the most critical problems bringing about several negative impacts (loss of human life, infrastructure damages, landscape transformation, natural environment deterioration, etc.). Fires pose great dangers not only for rural areas, but also for suburban or even urban areas. The aim of the research is to detect areas vulnerable to wildfire in Attica Region and then to examine the critical factors affecting the risk degree in macro and microscale. In the first step we examine the wider study area, which is close to vulnerable areas in a zone at least 1km wide. This examination includes the factor of vegetation along with other factors such as road network, aspect, slope etc, aiming to detect the exact area vulnerable to fire. The second step focuses on a vulnerable study area individually, for identifying and measuring the factors that affect the risk degree in microscale. The most notable factors are: a) population density, b) conne...

2006 First International Symposium on Environment Identities and Mediterranean Area, 2006

Fire hazard is a "natural" risk whose fight, in France, is organized in a very centralized way. However, it depends on human activities and the threatened values are mainly the real values. So, it has a collective and individual dimension which questions on the allowance equity of the public budgets. In particular because the total costs mutualisation tends to develop urbanization in area with high risk, in particular because they capitalize the landscapes in the real values.

Nigerian Journal of Tropical Geography Dantata et al. Vol. 8, No. 2, , 2017

Rapid increase in population and urbanization is obvious in the capital city of Nigeria (Abuja) since its creation. However, the growth population and urbanization have led to over stretching of the land and existing infrastructures as a result of increase in human activities (social, economic and political), demand for land, services and basic amenities. Excessive human activities in production of goods and services, market places, residential activities have resulted into recurring of fire incidences in the city and also increase in vulnerability of various infrastructures. The study aimed at examining the trend and spatial distribution of fire incidences (from 2014-2016) thereby identifying the most vulnerable infrastructures. GIS techniques was used for examining the trend and the spatial distribution of the incidences using the GPS data of fire incidents obtained from the fire stations. Vulnerability of various landuses was examined and it was found that the most vulnerable landuses in the study area are residential and industrial area accounting for about 27% and 23% respectively. In 2014 the division attended to 182 emergency calls and the worth of properties saved and properties loss is N4.19billion and N1.04 billion respectively. The number of lives saved reached up to about 458 persons and the number of lives lost is around 144 persons. In 2015 the division attended to 151 calls and the worth of properties saved and lost is N3.1 billion and N109 million respectively. While the lives lost and lives saved stand at 172 persons and 65 persons respectively. In 2016 the division attended to 113 calls and the properties lost and saved worth N2.4 billion and N98 million respectively while lives saved and lost stand at 82 persons and 32 persons respectively. Variation in the worth of properties and lives lost and saved depend on the proximity, effectiveness and promptness in response by the firefighting officers. Location allocation analysis was used to determine optimal location for new fire stations and hydrants as a strategy to reduce fire hazard in the study area. The study identified optimal locations within which firefighting stations can be established to enable prompt response within the city.

The present study analyzes the spatial distribution of 881 forest fires recorded during four recent years (2009-2012) in 59 municipalities of a Mediterranean region (Attica, Greece) characterized by high fire risk and relevant human pressure due to uneven urban expansion. The hypothesis that a defined fire profile (in terms of density, severity and land-use selectivity) on a local scale was associated to a specific set of socioeconomic and territorial variables, was tested explicitly using six fires’ indicators and eight contextual indicators under a multivariate analysis framework. Analysis identified two main dimensions for both forest fires (dimension and selectivity) and the socioeconomic context (demographic variables associated to the urban-rural gradient and average income). Fire density and forest/pastures burnt areas did not correlated to any socioeconomic variable. At the same time, average declared income and elevation of each municipality did not correlated to any fires’ variable. To the contrary, the average fire size, the percentage of burnt area per municipality and the proportion of cropland affected by fires correlated positively with the distance from the inner city and the total surface area of each municipality and negatively with the proportion of compact settlements, population density and growth. These results confirm the importance of the urban-rural divide determining the spatial distribution of forest fires in Attica while pointing out the modest influence of variables such as the socioeconomic status of resident population.

Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology, 2023

The science and technology is reaching to greater heights in recent decades, that the scientists are also not anticipated that it would change the facet of human life. However, disasters are challenging scientific community and its intensity and numbers of events are increasing in recent years. Disasters are classified into two types, i.e., natural and man-made. Ancient human beings were used fire to cook their food. Once they were habituated to eat cooked food, their digestive system started working properly which resulted in wise thinking. One of the most risky fiascos is fire. Notwithstanding its immediate risk on living souls', fire consumes woods. Trees that are giving oxygen to people, in this way, trees are viewed as lungs for solid life. Consistently, huge number of rapidly spreading fires happening all around the world they consume forested lands, causing unfriendly environmental and social effects. Early admonition and prompt reactions are the main available resources to battle such kind of calamities. This exploration work centers guileless techniques which are utilized to recognize forest fire susceptibility index (FFSI) and fire examination in Greater Visakhapatnam municipal corporation.

Fire Safety Journal, 2013

The spatio-temporal analysis of residential fires could allow decision makers to plan effective resource allocations in fire management according to fire clustering levels in space and time. In this study, we provide guidelines for the use of various methods in detecting the differences in clustering patterns of fire and non-fire (i.e., background residential) locations and how these patterns change over time. As a preliminary analysis step, various exploratory data analysis methods, such as, intensity plots (i.e., kernel density estimates) are used. Moreover, the use of Diggle's D-function (a second order analysis technique) is proposed for detecting the clustering of residential fire locations (if any) and whether there is additional clustering (or regularity) in the locations of the fires compared to background residential pattern. A test for trend over time (in years, months, and weeks) of the fire location patterns are provided with a space-time interaction analysis by spatio-temporal K-function. Residential fire data from Çankaya Municipality of Ankara, Turkey is used as an illustrative example. The presented methodology is also applicable to residential fire data from similar urban settings.

… Environment and Urban …, 2007

19th International Scientific Conference "Economic Science for Rural Development 2018". Integrated and Sustainable Regional Development Marketing and Sustainable Consumption, 2018

The economic development of the country is very often measured by the development of construction and other industries and the real estate market. Consequently, buildings are very important for the national economy. Real estate management is connected with the owners' responsibility for real estate, its long-term existence, maintenance of the property and all related processes. One of the most important risks in facility management is fire risk. Fire has become an important part of civilization and a factor in the development of society. Among different types of disasters, fire constitutes a significant threat to life and property in urban and rural areas. In Latvia, fire risks are under the control of the State Fire and Rescue Service of the Republic of Latvia. The aim of the research is to investigate statistics of fires in Latvia during the period from 2012 to 2017, and to find the main causes of fires and potential ways to improve the situation. The authors used data analysis, comparison and logical access methods and developed some recommendations. Statistical data for research has been offered by the State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia and the State Land Service. Research results show that the main causes of the fire are: careless handling of fire, heating systems, fire setting, phase fault, electrical equipment and other equipment, children playing with fire, lightning and other reasons.

Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra eBooks, 2022

The Wildland-urban interface (WUI) is an area, where houses meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland vegetation. The identification of these areas is not yet present in all countries. Although scientific research on this topic is still incomplete in Hungary, there are already initiatives and some results to identify WUI areas and analyse their risks. Authors approach the WUI fire risk from two directions. On the one hand, wildland is a combustible biomass, so wildfires pose a direct threat to the built environment. The reason for this threat is that residential buildings are located along the forest, which, as a flammable material, provides an opportunity for the spread of fire. This allows fire to spread from wildland vegetation to the populated area, endangering human life and property. Authors examine the characteristics of WUI fires in Hungary through analysis of observation plots. In the short paper Authors present the direct and indirect interface WUI and analyse the risk of WUI fires by using GIS spatial analyses. Authors also analyse the combustible fuel, the number of fires, and the integrating housing density in the observation plot.

The 7th Scientific Conference of Historical Structures: Historic Structures and Disasters, 2003

Most of the cities have urban quarters that reflect an aesthetic, historical and cultural sense of place and identity through history. Such quarters are generally blocked-up in the central areas and are often an integral part of the city with their structural features and identities. The rapid urbanization in developing countries reflects itself by the redistribution of population and consequently the redistribution of space, whose general trend is the fast growth on the periphery and the socioeconomic decline in central areas. This spatial transformation drive cities into a social and economic chaos, which increase various risks associated with disasters. As a result, fire incidents become an important urbanization problem, especially within the urban quarters, where historic buildings are concentrated. The ‘fire’ is defined as ‘disaster’ by laws in Turkey. Nevertheless, different than other disasters, fire is caused by human or technical failures dominantly. Therefore, fire causes and factors could be determined previously; in other words precaution and prevention efforts could be favorable for minimizing the effects of fire. The population and their attendance to economic and social activity, which also determine the distribution of activities within the built environment, take place in cities. This arrangement forms the basis for studying the distribution of other urban phenomena, so the fire problem. Thus, fire safety and risk control methods require knowledge of various factors including socioeconomic and built environment characteristics. For improved urbanization and fire-safe built environments, alteration in urban areas, especially in historic urban quarters, should be controlled through planning process, and fire problem should be handled firstly at urban scale. This study hypothesis that fire risk varies with a number of factors and should be defined in urban context. Consequently, this study would try to define the ‘urban fire risk’ term, and its factors related with urban elements in general. Urban fire risk factors would be examined for historic urban quarter of Ankara where the Ankara Citadel and many timber historic buildings are located. Main assumptions of this study are that the fire rate is differentiated not only according to structural factors, but also according to environmental and socioeconomic factors, and the risk management analysis could be used for defining areas containing more fire risks within the city.