Lesson 23- What are the responses to wildfires? Flashcards
Preparedness and Adaptation description
- Includes making people more aware of hazards and taking action to lower the risk
Preparedness and Adaptation examples
1) Satelites and infrared senses
- improve early detection/ monitoring
2)Warnings
-allow time for evacuation
3)Evacuation plans
-can be trained to improve response
4)Emergency kits
-essential items at hand to enhance survival rates
5)Education campaigns
-inform people how to create defensible spaces
Preparedness and Adaptation Case Study
- Nasa have drone technology that allows surveys of large areas
-Great Dismal Swamp in Verginia/ North Carolina can be surveyed by drones with a 2m wingspan for up to an hour to detect and monitor wildfires
Preparedness and Adaptation evaluations
- Only HIC’s would be able to use technology therefore not generalisable to the whole world.
- Reduces the risk as drones will be operating instead of people around fires
Mitigation and Prevention description
- Strategies can be introduced to reduce chances of hazards and to extinguish them.
Mitigation and Prevention examples
1)Helicopters-drop water and fire retardents onto fires to reduce its intensity
2)Backburning- light small fires ahead of a larger wildfire to reduce the amount of fuel avalible
3)Public awareness campaigns and rules on use of campfires and barbecues can reduce the chances of a wildfire starting
4)Weather conditions can be monitored for conditions that cause high risk of fires
Mitigation and Prevention case study
- USA National Weather Services issues warnings of low humidity, strong winds, dry fuels and dry lightning
- USA Red Flag Warnings in extreme fire behaviour likely oin next 24 hours
Mitigation and Prevention evaluations
- Helicopters cant distribute lots of water across forest
- Bad as it breaks the natural fire cycle and therefore has negative consequences on the ecosystem
