Fire record analysis in production forests
Name: WESLEN PINTOR CANZIAN
Publication date: 05/07/2019
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| NILTON CESAR FIEDLER | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ELAINE CRISTINA GOMES DA SILVA | External Examiner * |
| JOSÉ EDUARDO MACEDO PEZZOPANE | Internal Examiner * |
| NILTON CESAR FIEDLER | Advisor * |
| RONIE SILVA JUVANHOL | External Examiner * |
Summary: In the area of forest protection, forest fires are among the worst events that forests are
susceptible, and in the private sector, concern about fires is intensified through
economic losses. The objective of this study was to propose a methodology for the
analysis of occurrences of fires in production forests through a new classification for
average burned area and times of mobilization and displacement. Specifically, the
causes of the fires were identified, the correlation between the meteorological elements
and the number of occurrences, the distribution of the occurrences throughout the year
and the day, the average distance traveled by the combat teams was analyzed, and the
time of mobilization, displacement and combat. The study was supported by the
database of the historical series of 10 years of record of occurrence of fires and
meteorological variables, originating from 45 meteorological stations of a company
producing eucalyptus for pulp in the north of Espírito Santo and south of Bahia, in the
period from 2008 to 2017. According to the results, 91.4% of the 32,561 occurrences
over the 10 years were originated by arsonists. In addition, due to the fire, the number of
occurrences between the analyzed years showed moderate to low negative correlations,
respectively, for relative humidity and precipitation and negligible correlation to mean
temperature. On the other hand, the monthly distribution of fires was characterized by
being uniform throughout the year, since, although September and October presented
the highest occurrence incidence, they differed only from April at the 5% probability
level by the Tukey test. The highest concentration of fires was from 13:00 to 16:59:59
with 46.96%. The mobilization and displacement times were satisfactory, respectively
with averages of at least 80 and 60% concentrating up to class II, represented
respectively by the maximum limits of 5 and 40 minutes. The average displacement and
combat times presented a strong positive correlation with the average size of burned
area. This fact demonstrates the importance and necessity of an agile and efficient
firefighting strategy. Despite an average of 8.92 daily outbreaks of fires in 220,000 ha
of planted forests, the average area burned over the years was 2.39 ha with an average
combat time of 1:42:58. Thus, regions WHERE the origin of forest fires is mosttly byintentional and criminal action, actions to prevent and combat forest fires should be
planned considering all the months of the year, in addition, the classes of mobilization,
displacement and average areas burned proposed by this study presented results
adhering to the reality of fighting fires in production forests.
