New books, reports and articles in the library
September 2024
Subjects
"State of wildfires 2023-2024"
Earth System Science Data, Vol 16 August 2024
Climate change contributes to the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires globally, with significant impacts on society and the environment. However, our understanding of the global distribution of extreme fires remains skewed, primarily influenced by media coverage and regionalised research efforts. This inaugural State of Wildfires report systematically analyses fire activity worldwide, identifying extreme events from the March 2023–February 2024 fire season. We assess the causes, predictability, and attribution of these events to climate change and land use and forecast future risks under different climate scenarios.
The report is supported by data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS*) among others. The report’s findings underscore the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires globally and highlight the essential role of scientific data in informing policy and improving societal resilience. The report, by consolidating state-of-the-art wildfire science and delivering key insights relevant to policymakers, disaster management services, firefighting agencies, and land managers, aims to enhance society's resilience to wildfires and promote advances in preparedness, mitigation, and adaptation.
Use this ESSD link to read the article online.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read their news blog” Climate change raised the odds of unprecedented wildfires in 2023-24 “ about the research online.
The University of East Anglia “State of Wildfires interactive map” is here.
Lahaina Fire Incident Analysis Report (Report)
UL Research Institutes, online 16 September 2024
This document is the second in a series of three reports commissioned by the Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General to provide an independent review of the tragic fire that destroyed much of Lahaina, Hawaiʻi, on August 8–9, 2023. The report presents relevant background information; discusses weather, fuel, and infrastructure conditions; describes communication, incident management, fire suppression, and evacuation efforts; and details the impact of the fire on Lahaina’s built environment. It also considers these factors in the context of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy). This Phase Two report incorporates science- and evidence-based analyses with information from FSRI’s fire dynamics research, local subject matter experts, industry standards and best practices, and the collective experiences of FSRI’s research team.
Use this FSRI link to download report 1 and 2.
Community-Driven Recovery: The Lahaina Wildfires a Year Later (Blog)
RAND, online 16 August 2024
Since wildfires devastated Lahaina, Maui, just over a year ago, the town has been consumed by the monumental tasks of rebuilding and recovery. To keep the momentum going in the years ahead, Lahaina should remain focused on existing efforts to shift towards a community-driven approach to disaster recovery.
Use this RAND link to read the blog online.
Report on the large wildfires of 2022 in Europe (Report)
European Commission Joint Research Centre, August 2024
This report describes some of the largest European fires that occurred in 2022, with a special focus on the fire behaviour and the orographic, meteorological and operational conditions, among others, in which it spread. The year 2022 was marked by large wildfires that caused significant social, environmental and economic impacts. Describing some of the most impactful occurrences is essential, not only for historical record but also for drawing lessons that can be important for defining policies and improving strategies, tactics, and operations aiming at a more efficient fire management. This analysis revealed the great disparity of policies and functioning capabilities that exist in European countries, many of which result from the importance that fires have in different territories.
Use this European Commission link to read the report online.
New data confirms: forest fires are getting worse (Article)
World Resources Institute, August 2024
Using data from researchers at the University of Maryland, recently updated to cover the years 2001 to 2023, we calculated that the area burned by forest fires increased by about 5.4% per year over that time period. Forest fires now result in nearly 6 million more hectares of tree cover loss per year than they did in 2001 — an area roughly the size of Croatia. Fire is also making up a larger share of global tree cover loss compared to other drivers like mining and forestry. While fires only accounted for about 20% of all tree cover loss in 2001, they now account for roughly 33%.
Use this WRI link to read the article online.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry – Phase 2 (Report)
Chaired by the Rt Hon Sir Martin Moore-Bick, 2024, 2024
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry was created to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower in London on the night of 14 June 2017 that killed 72 people. The Inquiry investigation was conducted in two phases. The phase 2 report was released in September. It examined the underlying causes of the fire to identify where mistakes were made, how Grenfell Tower came to be in a condition which allowed the fire to spread in the way identified by Phase 1 and investigated the response of the authorities to the emergency.
Link to the Phase 2 executive summary (includes recommendations)
Link to the Phase 1 report released in 2019
Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast (Report)
BBC, 2024
A new 10-part series about the Grenfell Tower fire and why it happened. Missed opportunities, unheeded warnings and state failure to protect its citizens. What a fire in west London that killed 72 people shows us about how Britain works, and doesn't.
Use this BBC link to listen to the episodes online.
Essentials of fire fighting : firefighter 1 (Book)
IFSTA, 2024
Essentials 8th Edition is the most complete source for US firefighter training in the industry. It builds on IFSTA’s legacy of equipping firefighters with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in an ever-changing profession. IFSTA’s committee validation process ensures content is relevant, accurate, and is a true reflection of industry best practices. Essentials 8th features IFSTA’s student-focused design with large text, single column format, and frequent incorporation of high quality photos and illustrations. These features are proven to aid in learning and knowledge retention for adult learners.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
A breakthrough in wildfire detection: How a new constellation of satellites can detect smaller wildfires earlier (News science article)
Google Research Blog, online 16 September 2024
Google Research has teamed up with leaders in the fire community to create FireSat — a purpose-built constellation of satellites designed specifically to detect and track wildfires as small as a classroom (roughly 5x5 meters). With FireSat, authorities will have high-resolution imagery that is updated globally every 20 minutes, helping them respond to fires before they become destructive.
Use the Google Research link to read the article online.
Modernizing the US National Fire Danger Rating System (version 4): Simplified fuel models and improved live and dead fuel moisture calculations (Journal article)
Environmental Modelling & Software, Vol 181 October 2024
The US National Fire Danger Rating System (USNFDRS) supports wildfire management decisions nationwide, but it has not been updated since 1988. The authors implemented new fuel moisture models, and simplified the fuel models while maintaining the overall USNFDRS structure. The new USNFDRS is as good or better at predicting fire activity than the old system and this new model primes future innovation, and it can be adapted for worldwide use
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online
Modeling the Probability of Dry Lightning‐Induced Wildfires in Tasmania: A Machine Learning Approach (Journal article)
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, August 2024
Dry lightning is a prevalent episodic natural ignition source for wildfires, particularly in remote regions where such fires can escalate into uncontrollable events, burning extensive areas. In this study, we aimed to understand the interplay of environmental, fuel, and geographical factors in evaluating the probability of fire initiation following dry lightning strikes in Tasmania, Australia. We integrated dry lightning, active fire records, and gridded data on fire weather, fuel, and topography into a binary classification framework for both fire‐initiating and non‐fire‐causing lightning strikes.
Use this AGU link to read the article online.
Annaburroo experimental grassland fire data (Information Bulletin)
By CSIRO PyroPage, August 2024
This issue details the publication on the CSIRO Data Access Portal of the 1986 Annaburroo grassland fire experiment dataset. This dataset, made available for free download by anyone under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, comprises all the fuel, weather and fire behaviour data collected during the largest study of grassland fire behaviour ever conducted in Australia (and possibly the world!). Analysis of this dataset resulted in the development of the fire spread models that are still recommended for operational use in all continuous grassy fuels today and which were incorporated into the Australian Fire Danger Rating System. It is hoped that by making this dataset freely available that fire researchers around the world will apply creative and innovative analysis techniques to generate new insights into the behaviour and spread of one of the world’s fastest burning vegetation types. The details of this dataset, the methods used to collect the data, and the structure of the data files were recently published in a paper appearing in the International Journal of Wildland Fire, which is available below.
Use this PyroPage link to read the bulletin online.
International Journal of Wildland Fire, online 4 September 2024
This study uses detailed wildfire observation data to describe non-steady headfire rate of spread and the effect of barriers to fire propagation, such as roads, on halting or inhibiting spread. We discuss the implications for wildfire spread modelling and fireline safety.
Please use this CSIRO link to read the article online.
Fire occurrence and landscape dryness (Information Bulletin)
By CSIRO PyroPage, July 2024
This issue details the analysis of fire occurrence data from 17 years of incidents collected in Victoria investigating the influence of landscape dryness metrics, specifically the Keetch-Byram drought index and the McArthur Drought Factor. The results showed that the relationship between these metrics and the occurrence of fires (considering both fires that were successfully contained in initial attack and those that escaped initial attack to become large) is rather complex and depends on the climatology of the region in question, with fire occurrence in drier climates occurring largely at high Drought Factor values and very little difference in frequency distribution of Drought Factor between days with no fire and days with fire. In contrast, fire occurrence in moister climates exhibits a peak at lower Drought Factor values and shows significant differences between days with no fire and those with fire. The results of this analysis were recently published in a paper appearing in the International Journal of Wildland Fire, which is available as open access from the IJWF website.
Use this PyroPage link to read the bulletin online.
The International Journal of Wildland Fire article from the August 2023 issue is availble online here.
Blackout burning in dry conditions increases long-term fire severity risk (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, online 5 September 2024
Case studies explore the impact of fire regimes on vegetation structure and fuel risk in Southeast Queensland, Australia. High intensity wildfires and asset protection burns can promote excessive shrub and sapling densities, increasing elevated fuel loads. We recommend burns are done under moist, mild conditions to maintain an open forest structure and minimise fire hazard.
Please use this CSIRO link to read the article online.
Prescribed Fire Programming Experiences, Needs, and Challenges of Southeastern United States Extension Professional (Journal article)
Society & Natural Resources, online 17 September 2024
Prescribed fires are used to manage natural areas and mitigate potentially intense and catastrophic wildfires. Education and other outreach activities can increase the acceptance and adoption of prescribed fire use among private landowners. Land grant university-based Extension services are often a trusted source of information in communities on a variety of topics, but no published research has previously assessed Extension’s capacity for prescribed fire education and training. This study uses semi-structured interviews to explore the knowledge and experiences of 23 southeastern U.S. Extension professionals with prescribed fire outreach. Thematic analysis of the interviews guided by Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework revealed that these Extension professionals face a variety of challenges stemming from their institutions, audiences, and own backgrounds that complicate prescribed fire outreach. These challenges can be overcome, allowing Extension professionals to conduct fire science outreach and play an active role in facilitating networks to build capacity through cooperation.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
New gels could protect buildings during wildfires (ScienceDaily article)
Standford University, August 2024
Researchers have developed a sprayable gel that creates a shield to protect buildings from wildfire damage. It lasts longer and is more effective than existing commercial options.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the article online.
Difficult Conversations: Ways to Improve Firefighter Performance (Magazine article)
Fire Engineering, August 2024
No one intends to make the wrong choice or do the wrong thing. When it’s time to act, we believe our actions or decisions are right. However, depending on rank, it’s possible we do make mistakes regularly largely because we don’t receive the necessary feedback. As importantly, we also have leaders who are timid about providing necessary feedback to their personnel. How do we resolve this communication issue? By having difficult conversations, you can help to coach and mentor your personnel for positive change.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
A Guide to Activities for Hybrid Sessions (Journal article)
TD : Talent Development, September 2024
This article discusses the challenges and strategies for facilitating hybrid training events, which involve both in-person and virtual participants. The author emphasises the importance of creating equal opportunities for all learners to participate in activities, regardless of their mode of attendance. The article provides guidance on adapting activities for hybrid formats, planning for group sizes and formats, considering physical materials and technology, promoting pre-session engagement, establishing codes of communication, and moderating interactions.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Learning anywhere and everywhere (Journal article)
TD : Talent Development, September 2024
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
GIS cartography : a guide to effective map design (Book)
By Gretchen N. Peterson, 2021
In this third edition, author Gretchen Peterson takes a "don’t let the technology get in the way" approach to the presentation, focusing on the elements of good design, what makes a good map, and how to get there, rather than specific software tools. She provides a reference that you can thumb through time and again as you create your maps. Copiously illustrated, the third edition explores novel concepts that kick-start your pursuit of map-making excellence. The book doesn’t just teach you how to design and create good maps, it teaches you how to design and create superior maps.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
How bureaucracies interact with Indigenous Fire Stewardship (IFS): a conceptual framework (Journal article)
Fire Ecology, online 28 August 2024
Indigenous Fire Stewardship (IFS) is contested within settler-colonial contexts, where its development is shaped by complex and dynamic socio-cultural, legal, and political factors. This manuscript draws from the policy sciences to sketch out a “zone of interaction” between IFS and the state’s wildfire policy system. Drawing from the strategies of bureaucracies, our goal is to illustrate the patterns in this “zone of interaction,” and to identify the implications for IFS, as well as for Indigenous Peoples and landscapes. The authors share insights from the Australian and Canadian contexts where governments are restoring lands and reconciling with the laws and governance of Indigenous Peoples, illustrating how IFS interacts with the state.
Use this Fire Ecology link to read the article online.
Building age-inclusive disaster risk reduction: Insights among geographically mobile young adults in regional Australia (Report)
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Volume 113, October 2024
This paper identifies the need to pair life-stage with disaster risk reduction (DRR) objectives to improve understandings of what counts as ‘inclusion’ and ‘participation’. Community centred DRR is viewed as the gold standard, linking local networks, skills, capacities and knowledges together with government and nongovernment supports. However, despite the best of intentions young adults still experience exclusion due in part to adult centrism because initiatives are largely curated by adults. While research has sought to address this bias, outmigration by young adults at key life-stages creates an additional barrier. Interviews with young adults aged 18–30 in a bushfire affected area of Australia were conducted three years after disaster. Findings suggest participation is an essentially contested concept among adults and young adults, leading to tension and entrenched age-based exclusion.
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online.
Compassion in disaster management : the essential ethic of relational leadership (Book)
By Mark Crosweller, 2025
Should leadership minimize suffering? This book argues yes: offering leaders, especially those in disaster management, a way to improve their ability to lead, serve, and protect others during disasters and crises. Drawing upon his own experiences as a disaster management specialist as well as high-level interviews with disaster management leaders from the USA, Australia and New Zealand, Crosweller bridges theory and practice to achieve three objectives. An essential text for aspiring and experienced leaders, especially those in the fields of EMS, fire services, law enforcement, and emergency management. It will also appeal to students and researchers in related disciplines.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Catastrophic Incentives : Why Our Approaches to Disasters Keep Falling Short (Book)
By Jeffrey Schlegelmilch and Ellen Carlin, 2023
As the frequency and severity of national and global disasters mount, little attention is being paid to the efficacy of the systems in place for dealing with this reality. Individual programs are tweaked in response to events-modifications to flood insurance regulations, improved building codes to withstand earthquakes, federal support for pandemic vaccines-but considerations of the overall model for implementation are almost entirely lacking. Jeffrey Schlegelmilch and Ellen Carlin show that an understanding how and why these structures work and do not work to foster resilience can help lead us toward more meaningful approaches to recovery when catastrophe strikes.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Australian Government crisis management framework (Report)
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia), September 2024
The framework outlines the arrangements enabling the Australian Government’s ‘all hazards’ crisis management approach. This approach is a continuum of: prevention; preparedness; response; and recovery. However, the main focus of the Crisis Framework is near term crisis preparedness, immediate crisis response and early crisis recovery arrangements. Long-term disaster risk reduction and resilience building activities are not covered in detail in this Crisis Framework. Crises may include (but are not limited to) terrorist incidents, cyber incidents, health pandemics, animal diseases, natural disasters and incidents affecting Australians and/or Australian interests overseas.
Use this PMC link to read the report online.
Insurance catastrophe resilience report 2023-24 (Report)
By Insurance Council of Australia, August 2024
This report shows that the impact of extreme weather on the Australian economy has more than tripled over the last three decades. Insured losses from declared insurance catastrophes have grown from 0.2 of GDP from 1995 to 2000 to 0.7 per cent for the last five years, meaning extreme weather losses are consuming more and more of our economic resources.
Use this Insurance Council link to read the report online.
Police sergeants and disaster management during Australia’s Black Summer bushfire crisis (Journal article)
The police sergeant, or equivalent supervisor, is the glue that binds police units together, assigns workloads, and distributes organisational power from ‘above’ to ensure that those in the field play fairly and by the rules. Yet very little empirical research has been undertaken to examine the work of sergeants or consider how these roles impact the ability of police and their partners to manage critical incidents, including complex disasters. Drawing on a case study of disaster policing during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires, this paper examines how police sergeants with two distinct emergency management roles leveraged their authority, relationships, and knowledge to support the effective management of this incident. Using composite accounts, it illustrates how both sergeants drew upon and adapted traditional understandings of their role to negotiate the perceived deficiencies of command-and-control and networked features of complex disaster management systems. The case studies illustrate how the officers’ positionalities (organisationally, geographically, and systemically) enhanced their sensemaking abilities during the crisis, and they utilised their recognised authority, relationships, and soft skills to inform, nudge, and influence a wide range of stakeholders. The paper reveals that police sergeants may be uniquely positioned to assist with the coordination of increasingly complex disaster management assemblages at a time when the neoliberal state’s ability to even ‘steer’ these effectively is increasingly called into question.
Use this Taylor & Francis link to read the article online.
Stakeholder Perceptions of Wildfire Mitigations for Homes Multi-Audience Survey Research (US Report)
NFPA, August 2024
According to NFPA, today there are some 45 million homes at risk to wildfire in the United States. To reduce the loss from wildfires, these structures must be retrofitted to reduce the risk of ignition. However, we largely rely on voluntary initiatives to make these changes. This only goes so far and action is needed from government, insurers, and other stakeholders to aid in these initiatives. In order to better message about these regulations and effective mitigation actions, more information is needed about stakeholder perceptions about mitigations for existing structures and motivations for taking action. Stakeholders include homeowners, local government officials, and fire departments. The objective of this project was to gather information about stakeholder perceptions about wildfire mitigations and risk through surveys implemented in both California and Oregon, which both face elevated wildfire risks. The survey targeted government officials, local fire departments, and residents in both states. The information from the surveys will be used to help develop effective messaging strategies about wildfire risk and mitigations.
Use this NFPA link to read the report online.
The NFPA Journal article, "Survey Says", that discusses the report is online here.
Who Drives Disaster Communication? An Analysis of Twitter Network Structure and Influence during a Wildfire Crisis (Journal article)
Western Journal of Communication Vol 88, July 2024
Oregon’s Almeda Fire destroyed over 2,000 residences and displaced thousands of people who evacuated with little warning or guidance from official or traditional media sources. Results of this social network analysis of 12,193 tweets from the active stage of the crisis show a clear clustered network structure, with citizens playing a more influential role in crisis information diffusion than government or media accounts. Additionally, some of the most widely shared information from nonlocal media accounts was misinformed or inaccurate. Findings suggest that crisis leaders should work to cultivate relationships with influential citizen journalists in wildfire-prone areas.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Landscape fire, smoke, and health : linking biomass burning emissions to human well-being (Book)
By Tatiana V. Loboda, Nancy H.F. French, Robin C. Puett, 2024
There is an immense lack of general understanding of the scope and advantages offered across various components of the modelling chain, starting with fire detection through emissions modelling, atmospheric transport, and constructing epidemiological models. The great proliferation of methods for each of the components is creating a wild west environment where it becomes increasingly challenging to evaluate the validity of reported results and thus leading to opaque science. Thus, this volume provides a synthesis effort distributed across all components of the modelling chain, which is necessary to build a community with a common understanding of the modelling potential and to promoting further scientific inquiry.
Contact the library to borrow this book.