Environmental impact of fire
- Introduction. Fires are adverse events with tangible costs to property and human life. ...
- Historically significant fires. Many fires have an impact on the environment because of the relative ease of transmission of harmful chemicals to the nearby environment.
- Impact analysis. ...
- Decision making. ...
- Conclusions and future work. ...
- Abbreviations. ...
How do fires affect the environment?
It is suggested that as more data on fires and impacts become available, such an approach to assessing aggregated impacts can be developed. Many fires have an impact on the environment because of the relative ease of transmission of harmful chemicals to the nearby environment.
Is there a quantification of the environmental impact of fire?
Several pieces of work exist on the quantification of the environmental impact of fire, but there is a need to pull this information together and to identify the technical gaps that still exist.
How does structural fire engineering affect the natural environment?
Structural fire engineering research typically focuses on life safety, property loss, and continuity of business; however, the fire event can have significant impact on the natural environment as well. In addition to the carbon emission of the fire itself, a fire can have non-carbon contamination of the air, water supply, and soils.
Does fire have an impact on water?
The impact of the fire effects on water have already been shown to be disastrous in the case of Basel Switzerland. Fire is commonly extinguished with water, although other agents (e. g., surfactants, foams) may be used depending on the type of fire.
What is a NIFC?
The national interagency fire center (NIFC) is an organization who serves as a coordinator for wildland fire events throughout the United States. NIFC is responsible supporting incidents around the country at all levels of risk and as such it can leverage its own, and its partner organizations, advanced ability to track and respond to wildland fire events. This agency develops the teams that are necessary to respond to a wildland fires and sets up mobile response units. Over the past 10 years the average number of wildfires in the United States per year is 6,964 fires, with an average of 183,481 acres burned every year. The most severe year in the last 10 years was in 2006 when 543,465 acres burned (NIFC 2014 ).
How does burning out a forest affect the environment?
Effects of burning out a portion of the forest range from increased erosion and problems for water quality, to habitat degradation.
What is impact analysis?
Impact analysis includes the different set of analyses which are conducted to determine what the severity of the impacts will be and how they might manifest themselves. Three types of analysis are presented as the most common methods for understanding the impacts. When conducting any type of analysis like this there is a specificity and data problem, meaning that, to fully conduct the analysis requires a significant amount of information and a clearly defined focus for the analysis.
How can the contents of a building change from year to year?
The contents of a building can make a difference when choosing a design fire for a space and it is seemingly similar for an environmental impact study. For example a large warehouse filled with bricks would be very different than a warehouse filled with fertilizer, herbicide, and other pesticides both in terms of the fire and that the environmental impacts would result. It is recommended that some sensitivity studies be conducted to determine the effect of contents beyond the studies from FM Global and BRE.
What is the use of geographic information system data?
Geographic Information System data (GIS) is a technology that is used to capture, manipulate, analyze, and manage all types of special data. (CEGIS 2014 ). The vegetation data has been implemented into a series of growth models and will act to predict the types of special vegetation. (USFS 2013 ). Weather and climatic data is also provided through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and they specifically have a focus on the effects of weather on fire (Bussum, 2013 ). Finally, the use of remote sensing has allowed for stakeholders to have more information about the fire and its movements using multiple different sensing technologies increases the accuracy of the model (USFS 2015 ).
What happens when an environmental event causes an impact on the ecology?
If an environmental event causes an impact to the ecology, generally it will affect a large area and affect the ecology of that area. This is the more likely outcome of a fire event. One can break the impacts into pathways, over which the hazards travel from the source to the target.
Why are fire retardants being created?
As building contents change to be more susceptible to fire, new fire retardants are being created to challenge the fire ignition and initial growth. It is recommended that a database of fire retardants and the products of combustion, when they are burned, is created to more fully understand their hazard and toxicity.
Report
The Foundation initiated this research project to develop a research road map identifying needed research to be able to quantify the environmental impact of fire from the built environment and its economic consequences. This project focused on structure fires and excluded wildland and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires.
Research Roadmap: Environmental Impact of Fires in the Built Environment
The Foundation initiated this research project to develop a research road map identifying needed research to be able to quantify the environmental impact of fire from the built environment and its economic consequences. This project focused on structure fires and excluded wildland and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires.
Why did the fire department see water runoff?
Early on, the fire department saw the water runoff due to the sprinkler system activation and a broken sprinkler pipe. Because of the fire chief’s concern for water runoff entering into the city’s water supply, the fire fighters were directed to only apply water in areas where runoff could be monitored on paved areas.
Why didn't the fire department hook up to the sprinklers?
The fire chief made a decision for the fire fighters not to hook up to the fire pump due to concerns for the safety of the fire fighters and exposure to high heat and potentially dangerous conditions.
What is the difference between active and passive fire protection?
Active fire protection is in the form of building sprinklers, and passive fire protection is in the form of fire protection on individual structural members (i.e. spray-applied fire protection, intumescent paint).
What are the measures of sustainability?
One such measure is life cycle assessment (LCA), which is a standardized methodology for comparing environmental impacts of developing, using, and disposing of a product or a service. Another measure is the cumulative energy demand (CED). The CED is the energy consumed during a product’s life cycle. The result of this evaluation is called the “embodied energy” of a product or a service. Commercially available software such as Athena Impact Estimator (Athena Sustainable Materials Institute) includes the embodied energy of a building in the output when the user can input the operating fuel consumption.
What causes contamination of water and soil?
Contamination of the soil and water can occur from the products of combustion in the fire plume. Lastly, contamination of the water supply in an area can occur as a result of runoff from fire suppression methods (i.e. sprinklers, firefighting techniques) which can contain toxic byproducts of the fire.
How long did the Miami River fire take to contain?
The consultation they provided to the fire department considered the tradeoff between air pollution and water pollution. The fire was contained within 12 hours of starting. There was a small amount of fire-water runoff contamination in the Miami river; however, it was addressed quickly and effectively.
What is structural fire engineering?
Structural fire engineering research typically focuses on life safety, property loss, and continuity of business; however, the fire event can have significant impact on the natural environment as well. In addition to the carbon emission of the fire itself, a fire can have non-carbon contamination of the air, water supply, and soils.
What happens when asbestos is disturbed?
Once asbestos is disturbed, the fibers become airborne and when inhaled can lead to the development of pleural mesothelioma in the lining of the lungs. During the cleanup process, many materials are often improperly disposed of and create a threat for destruction in the future.
How does a wildfire affect vegetation?
Depending on the temperature and time of year a wildfire occurs, vegetation can be significantly impacted. Plants on the forest floor or smaller trees are often destroyed by wildfires, while larger trees are able to survive as long as the fire does not spread into the tree canopy.
How do wildfires affect the environment?
Wildfires can have immediate and long term effects on the quality of rivers, lakes, and streams. The most noticeable impact of wildfires is stormwater runoff. After the loss of vegetation, the ground’s soil becomes hydrophobic and prevents the absorption of water. This inability to absorb water promotes ...
What are the effects of wildfires?
Additionally, wildfires produce an increased amount of carbon monoxide, which too can lead to a variety of health implications. Buildings and homes that lie within the path of a wildfire are destroyed, exposing hazardous materials that pose a threat on human health for first responders and during the clean up process.
What happens to the environment after a wildfire?
After a wildfire, new grasslands are created and allow grazing animals to benefit from the change . This increase in the natural order of species allows a change in ecology that promotes growth and the continual cycle of life.
What are the elements that make up a wildfire?
Three elements are crucial for the creation of a wildfire: fuel, oxygen, and heat. Firefighters often refer to this combination of elements as the fire triangle. On a hot day, drought conditions peak and something as small as a spark has the potential to create a large wildfire with devastating consequences.
What happens when a forest burns?
As a forest burns, large amounts of smoke are released into the atmosphere. These smoke particles are typically small and made up of gases and water vapor. Air pollution from fires have the potential to travel great distances and oftentimes may pose a threat to human health.
What is the food source of the Karner Blue Butterfly?
The food source for the Karner blue butterfly caterpillar ( Lycaeides melissa samuelis) is a plant called wild lupine ( Lupine perennis ). The wild lupine requires fire to reduce overhanging plants that otherwise would outcompete it for needed sunlight. Thus, indirectly, the caterpillar needs fire to complete its life cycle.
How do wildfires help animals?
Conversely, fires can help rid an ecosystem of invasive species that have not adapted to regular wildland fires.
Why do lupines need fire?
Wild lupine requires fire to maintain an ecosystem balance in which it can thrive. Without fire, the lupines do not flourish, and the caterpillars cannot consume enough food to undergo metamorphosis and become butterflies.
What is wildfire fire?
While a wildfire refers to an unintentional, uncontrolled fire, the term “wildland fire” is broader and includes fires purposefully set as part of prescribed burns. While all fires have the potential to become dangerous to property and life, prescribed, or controlled, burns are planned extensively and performed with tight safety parameters.
What percentage of wildfires originate from humans?
Smokey Bear’s message is right—nearly 85 percent of wildfires originate from human activity, and we have to take action to prevent these damaging fires. But suppression is not enough. Nature needs fire, and ecologically benefits from periodic burning.
Why do caterpillars need fire?
Thus, indirectly, the caterpillar needs fire to complete its life cycle. crime of intentionally setting an illegal fire. planned fire to accomplish certain management goals for the land; also known as a prescribed burn. community and interactions of living and nonliving things in an area.
How many acres did the California wildfires burn?
Despite Smokey’s education campaigns, wildfires burned about four million hectares (10 million acres) of land during 2017, and in 2018, a single California wildfire, the “Camp Fire” destroyed nearly 20,000 structures and killed more than 80 people, with insured losses topping $10 billion. However, while these frightening ...
What do grazing animals do?
Grazing animals are able to move through opened forest feeding on the new shoots. Foraging animals move through open areas browsing fresh foliage and digging for fungi and insects. Predators can select their prey, unable to find cover in the open space.
How does fire affect the Australian landscape?
The Australian landscape has been recovering from fire for millions of years. Every bushfire has an influence on fauna and flora, result ing in frequent localised changes to habitat.
What do eucalypts shoot from?
Eucalypt species shoot growth from buds hidden under bark and lignotubers under the soil. Other species shoot from roots out away from the main trunk (eg Acacias, Allocasuarina spp.). Ferns and grass trees shoot from burnt trunks, and grasses produce fresh shoots from their bases. Nutrients that are not used by plants are leached into the soil.
Why is it important to have a good mix of habitats?
A good mix of habitats provides a range of areas suitable for species which favour burnt conditions and those that prefer unburnt vegetation.
How did Aboriginal people influence the environment?
Aboriginal people influenced the environment by using fire to manage ‘country’. The practice has similarities to the prescribed burning techniques used today. The human influence on fire has affected the Australian landscape for centuries and this, in turn, has shaped the Australian flora and fauna. The impacts of fire on the environment depend on the fire history or fire regime (the interval between fires, the time of year fires occur, how intense fires are and the amount and arrangement of burnt and unburnt patches in an area). The decision to manage fire for safety, protection, land management and regeneration does not change this.
What type of vegetation is found in South Australia?
South Australia hosts a range of vegetation types, from stringybark forests to arid shrublands. Most Australian habitats have evolved with regular reoccurring fires. The increasing aridity of the Australian environment has resulted in a more fire-prone flora and fauna, and an increase in fire activity will continue this trend.
Why do some species require a fire-free period between bushfires?
Some species require a fire-free period between bushfires to flower and produce seed or ensure offspring are old enough to survive. Other species favour the habitats which result after bushfire in order to reproduce.
How do campfires compare to wildfires?
When comparing the sizing of each: (To paint a picture) When you look up into the sky, campfires are essentially the size of a star, while wildfires are the size of the sun. So, essentially a campfire virtually have no impact on the environment when compared to the impact of a wild forest fire.
How does smoke affect the environment?
The biggest impact smoke has on the environment is to the health of those in the vicinity. Both humans and wildlife occupy this fine planet we live on. and in areas where air quality is in the toilet, simply having a backyard or backcountry campfire can have its impacts on those in the area.
How do campfires impact the environment?
How Campfires Impact The Environment (Good or Bad?) Written by Colt in Camp Skills: Campfires. If you are like many, you have high concerns for the environment. Especially when it comes to burning fuel of any sort, whether it be literal fuel such as gasoline or nature grown fuels such as wood. Focusing more on the burning ...
What is the most impactful part of a fire?
Now, The most impactful part of a fire is obviously the smoke. Smoke can come in many different amounts. Ranging from small, such as, like you would see with a campfire, or bonfire. To large, as you would see with a wild forest fire.
How long can a wildfire be in a no go zone?
Wild forest fires can turn a community with seemingly the cleanest air on earth, into a no go zone for a few days, or even a few weeks maybe months.
Do campfires produce less smoke?
I personally feel that a small campfire will produce a significant amount less smoke than that of a wildfire, even if many people in the area are enjoying a backyard bonfire, or backcountry campfire. However, with enough people having their own backyard, or Backcountry campfires.
Why are predators important to the ecosystem?
Predators are their to keep herbivores in balance with the vegetation that is available to feed the ecosystem. Too many herbivores, and not enough food is typically a result of over population. Which leads to a damaged ecosystem, and soon becomes a uninhabitable ecosystem. Rounding back to the concept of whether or not fire is good or bad for ...
The value of long-term research
While each fire is different due to the features of the ecosystem at the time of the burn, fire regimes, the pattern in which fires naturally occur in an ecosystem over time, provide a general description based on characteristics – such as frequency, size, and seasonality – from multiple fires in a given ecosystem type.
Moving into the era of Big Data
The data from these and all other LTER studies and sites is made publicly accessible so they can be used in research across the network and beyond. In addition to LTER data, NSF infrastructure investments such as the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON, provide critical information in the effort to predict wildfires.
Building a community of fire researchers
Synthesizing the data is helpful, but so is synthesizing the community. To that end, NSF supported a five-day Wildfire and the Biosphere Innovation Lab to generate creative strategies and new research collaborations aimed at improving understanding of different types and sizes of fires over time – from the local to the continental level and beyond.
Future of fire research
Further investigation of fires across various dimensions like space and time can help inform policy and ecosystem management methods that could limit the negative impacts on nature, humans and human-made infrastructure like homes and roads. Participants in the Innovation Lab are working on a coordinated roadmap for the future of wildfire research.
Sustainability
Previous Fires and Their Impacts
- Fires have a large impact on the environment due to the transmission of harmful chemicals through combustion of the contents of a building. Previous fires highlight the significant impact fires have on the environment or the impact fire-fighting techniques can have to surrounding areas. Other countries (i.e. New Zealand) have developed agencies to plan and manage ecologic…
Environmental Impact of Fire
- There are short term and long term environmental impacts of fire. The short term impacts are experienced by the affected community immediately following the fire event; however, the affected and neighboring communities may not be aware of the pending long term impacts of fires. There are a large variety of hazardous agents that are released during ...
Fire-LCA
- A comprehensive fire LCA tool developed by the SP Fire Testing Laboratory in Sweden is available for commercial use. Fire-LCA is similar to typical LCA tools used by the industry (i.e. Athena). The difference is that there are modules to account for the effect of a fire during the life-time of a structure. These modules recognize the extent of the damaged area, the fire extinguishment an…
Conclusion and Future Work
- Hazard mitigation and sustainable design have developed independent of one another. As such, popular sustainable design metrics provide large benefits to the reduction of materials without consideration of the impacts those reductions have on the disaster resilience of structures. These metrics also place large emphasis on the reduction of CO2emissions and embodied energy in th…
References
- D. Martin, M. Tomida and B. Meacham, The Environmental Impact of Fire, Fire Protection Research Council , Quincy, MA, 2015. S. Kerber, Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction, Underwriters Laboratory, Northbrook, IL, 2010. T. Penny, M. Collins and S. Aumonier, Embodied Energy as an Indicator for Environmental Impacts…