Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires
Despite increasing concern over wildfires in Fennoscandia, there are essentially no studies on the survivability of buildings within the wildland-urban interface of this region. We make use of four recent large-scale fires in Sweden to elucidate which factors are important for survival, using multip...
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ftslunivuppsala:oai:pub.epsilon.slu.se:29315 2023-05-15T16:12:04+02:00 Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires Plathner, Frida Vermina Sjostrom, Johan Granström, Anders 2023 application/pdf https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/1/plathner-f-v-et-al-20221018.pdf en eng eng https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/1/plathner-f-v-et-al-20221018.pdf Plathner, Frida Vermina and Sjostrom, Johan and Granström, Anders (2023). Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires. Safety Science. 157 , 105928 [Research article] Architectural Engineering Research article NonPeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article 1480 ftslunivuppsala 2022-10-20T16:13:51Z Despite increasing concern over wildfires in Fennoscandia, there are essentially no studies on the survivability of buildings within the wildland-urban interface of this region. We make use of four recent large-scale fires in Sweden to elucidate which factors are important for survival, using multiple logistic regression analysis of data collected at the sites. We obtained data on 187 buildings within the fire perimeters, nearly all with wood paneling and tile- or sheet metal roofing. 35 % of the buildings were lost or badly damaged. Results indicate that most buildings were approached by relatively low-intensity fire and that ignition primarily occurred through direct flame contact. The most important factor for survivability was the presence of a maintained lawn. The second most important was that no flammable material was present close to the building facade. Further, fire intensity often decreased close to buildings due to a larger portion of deciduous trees around gardens than in the surrounding forest. These factors were more important than specific features of the building itself, reflecting that the majority of buildings have combustible wooden facades. Our results suggest that the greatest potential for increasing building safety in the Swedish WUI is to keep the area immediately surrounding the building (similar to 5 m) free from tree litter and other flammable material. Also, since fire intensities are generally low, buildings can in most cases be defended with simple tools without compromising personal safety. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandia Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
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English |
topic |
Architectural Engineering |
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Architectural Engineering Plathner, Frida Vermina Sjostrom, Johan Granström, Anders Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
topic_facet |
Architectural Engineering |
description |
Despite increasing concern over wildfires in Fennoscandia, there are essentially no studies on the survivability of buildings within the wildland-urban interface of this region. We make use of four recent large-scale fires in Sweden to elucidate which factors are important for survival, using multiple logistic regression analysis of data collected at the sites. We obtained data on 187 buildings within the fire perimeters, nearly all with wood paneling and tile- or sheet metal roofing. 35 % of the buildings were lost or badly damaged. Results indicate that most buildings were approached by relatively low-intensity fire and that ignition primarily occurred through direct flame contact. The most important factor for survivability was the presence of a maintained lawn. The second most important was that no flammable material was present close to the building facade. Further, fire intensity often decreased close to buildings due to a larger portion of deciduous trees around gardens than in the surrounding forest. These factors were more important than specific features of the building itself, reflecting that the majority of buildings have combustible wooden facades. Our results suggest that the greatest potential for increasing building safety in the Swedish WUI is to keep the area immediately surrounding the building (similar to 5 m) free from tree litter and other flammable material. Also, since fire intensities are generally low, buildings can in most cases be defended with simple tools without compromising personal safety. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Plathner, Frida Vermina Sjostrom, Johan Granström, Anders |
author_facet |
Plathner, Frida Vermina Sjostrom, Johan Granström, Anders |
author_sort |
Plathner, Frida Vermina |
title |
Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
title_short |
Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
title_full |
Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
title_fullStr |
Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
title_full_unstemmed |
Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires |
title_sort |
garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-an analysis using large swedish wildfires |
publishDate |
1480 |
url |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/1/plathner-f-v-et-al-20221018.pdf |
genre |
Fennoscandia |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandia |
op_relation |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/29315/1/plathner-f-v-et-al-20221018.pdf Plathner, Frida Vermina and Sjostrom, Johan and Granström, Anders (2023). Garden structure is critical for building survival in northern forest fires-An analysis using large Swedish wildfires. Safety Science. 157 , 105928 [Research article] |
_version_ |
1765997304162025472 |