Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)

Wildfire fatalities remain a significant problem in Mediterranean Europe. Although there is a strong inter-annual variability with regard to their number, repeated tragic accidents remind us of this grim occurrence, despite the increasing firefighting capacity aimed to improve human safety. In this...

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Autores: Molina Terrén, Domingo, Xanthopoulos, Gavriil, Diakakis, Michalis, Ribeiro, Luis, Caballero, David, Delogu, Giuseppe, Viegas, Domingos Xavier, Silva, Carlos A., Cardil Forradellas, Adrián
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
Repositorio:Repositori Obert UdL
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.udl.cat:10459.1/70558
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/70558
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mediterranean Europe
Wildfire accidents
Wildfire fatalities
Wildland-urban interface
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spelling Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)Molina Terrén, DomingoXanthopoulos, GavriilDiakakis, MichalisRibeiro, LuisCaballero, DavidDelogu, GiuseppeViegas, Domingos XavierSilva, Carlos A.Cardil Forradellas, AdriánMediterranean EuropeWildfire accidentsWildfire fatalitiesWildland-urban interfaceWildfire fatalities remain a significant problem in Mediterranean Europe. Although there is a strong inter-annual variability with regard to their number, repeated tragic accidents remind us of this grim occurrence, despite the increasing firefighting capacity aimed to improve human safety. In this paper, we present an analysis of the 865 fatalities caused by wildfires in the 1945–2016 period. Data originating from national databases were merged, contextual and weather factors related to the accidents that caused these deaths were documented and analysed to explore probable relationships with the number and type of fatalities. Results show a major rise of fatalities in late 1970s in the four regions of Greece, Sardinia (Italy), Spain and Portugal. Fatalities present a strong seasonality in summer months, as expected. Overall, Spain has the highest absolute numbers of fatalities; however, normalisations by population, and burned and forest area show that annual number of fatalities is comparatively smaller. Certain other factors showed correlation with mortality. Civilians were the most affected group in Greece (65%) and Sardinia (58%), but not in Spain and Portugal. Findings indicate that an in-depth revision of fire-management policies and practices is required, with emphasis on prevention planning in urban areas, and better training of the firefighting resources.CSIRO PublishingInternational Association of Wildland Fire2019info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/70558reponame:Repositori Obert UdL instname:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2019, vol. 28, núm. 2, p. 85-98cc by-nc-nd, (c) IAWF, 2019info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/oai:repositori.udl.cat:10459.1/705582026-06-24T12:42:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
title Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
spellingShingle Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
Molina Terrén, Domingo
Mediterranean Europe
Wildfire accidents
Wildfire fatalities
Wildland-urban interface
title_short Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
title_full Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
title_fullStr Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
title_sort Analysis of forest fire fatalities in Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sardinia (Italy)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Molina Terrén, Domingo
Xanthopoulos, Gavriil
Diakakis, Michalis
Ribeiro, Luis
Caballero, David
Delogu, Giuseppe
Viegas, Domingos Xavier
Silva, Carlos A.
Cardil Forradellas, Adrián
author Molina Terrén, Domingo
author_facet Molina Terrén, Domingo
Xanthopoulos, Gavriil
Diakakis, Michalis
Ribeiro, Luis
Caballero, David
Delogu, Giuseppe
Viegas, Domingos Xavier
Silva, Carlos A.
Cardil Forradellas, Adrián
author_role author
author2 Xanthopoulos, Gavriil
Diakakis, Michalis
Ribeiro, Luis
Caballero, David
Delogu, Giuseppe
Viegas, Domingos Xavier
Silva, Carlos A.
Cardil Forradellas, Adrián
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Mediterranean Europe
Wildfire accidents
Wildfire fatalities
Wildland-urban interface
topic Mediterranean Europe
Wildfire accidents
Wildfire fatalities
Wildland-urban interface
description Wildfire fatalities remain a significant problem in Mediterranean Europe. Although there is a strong inter-annual variability with regard to their number, repeated tragic accidents remind us of this grim occurrence, despite the increasing firefighting capacity aimed to improve human safety. In this paper, we present an analysis of the 865 fatalities caused by wildfires in the 1945–2016 period. Data originating from national databases were merged, contextual and weather factors related to the accidents that caused these deaths were documented and analysed to explore probable relationships with the number and type of fatalities. Results show a major rise of fatalities in late 1970s in the four regions of Greece, Sardinia (Italy), Spain and Portugal. Fatalities present a strong seasonality in summer months, as expected. Overall, Spain has the highest absolute numbers of fatalities; however, normalisations by population, and burned and forest area show that annual number of fatalities is comparatively smaller. Certain other factors showed correlation with mortality. Civilians were the most affected group in Greece (65%) and Sardinia (58%), but not in Spain and Portugal. Findings indicate that an in-depth revision of fire-management policies and practices is required, with emphasis on prevention planning in urban areas, and better training of the firefighting resources.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/70558
url https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/70558
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18004
International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2019, vol. 28, núm. 2, p. 85-98
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc by-nc-nd, (c) IAWF, 2019
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
rights_invalid_str_mv cc by-nc-nd, (c) IAWF, 2019
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv CSIRO Publishing
International Association of Wildland Fire
publisher.none.fl_str_mv CSIRO Publishing
International Association of Wildland Fire
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositori Obert UdL
instname:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
instname_str Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
reponame_str Repositori Obert UdL
collection Repositori Obert UdL
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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