Relationships between building features and wildfire damage in California, USA and Pedrogao Grande, Portugal
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Dossi, Simona
Messerschmidt, Birgitte
Ribeiro, Luis Mario
Almeida, Miguel
Rein, Guillermo
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Buildings in communities near wildlands, in the wildland–urban interface (WUI), can experience wildfire damage.
Aims: To quantitatively assess the relationship between building features and damage, a building wildfire resistance index is developed and validated with the 2013–2017 CAL FIRE (DINS) database from California, USA, and the 2017 Pedrógão Grande Fire Complex post-fire investigation from Portugal.
Methods: Three statistical dependence tests are compared to evaluate the relationship between selected building features and damage. The Wildfire Resistance Index (WRI), range: [–1, 1], is proposed and validated as a rating for building wildfire susceptibility.
Key results: The most correlated features to wildfire damage are the presence of vent screens and deck materials in California, and exterior walls material and deck materials in Portugal. For Portugal, as WRI increases by 50%, linear regression estimates a 48% decrease in proportion of highly damaged buildings, and a 42% increase in proportion of low damage buildings (R2 of 0.93 and 0.90, respectively). A total of 65% of California buildings with WRI = 1 were destroyed, compared to average 85% for WRI ≥−0.33.
Conclusions: The WRI quantifies the wildfire damage experienced by buildings in two diverse WUI regions.
Implications: The WRI could be used as an estimator of wildfire damage but it needs further development.
Aims: To quantitatively assess the relationship between building features and damage, a building wildfire resistance index is developed and validated with the 2013–2017 CAL FIRE (DINS) database from California, USA, and the 2017 Pedrógão Grande Fire Complex post-fire investigation from Portugal.
Methods: Three statistical dependence tests are compared to evaluate the relationship between selected building features and damage. The Wildfire Resistance Index (WRI), range: [–1, 1], is proposed and validated as a rating for building wildfire susceptibility.
Key results: The most correlated features to wildfire damage are the presence of vent screens and deck materials in California, and exterior walls material and deck materials in Portugal. For Portugal, as WRI increases by 50%, linear regression estimates a 48% decrease in proportion of highly damaged buildings, and a 42% increase in proportion of low damage buildings (R2 of 0.93 and 0.90, respectively). A total of 65% of California buildings with WRI = 1 were destroyed, compared to average 85% for WRI ≥−0.33.
Conclusions: The WRI quantifies the wildfire damage experienced by buildings in two diverse WUI regions.
Implications: The WRI could be used as an estimator of wildfire damage but it needs further development.
Date Issued
2023-01-01
Date Acceptance
2022-11-06
Citation
International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2023, 32 (2), pp.296-312
ISSN
1049-8001
Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Start Page
296
End Page
312
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Wildland Fire
Volume
32
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:001075950400011&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
BEDS
buildings
California wildfire
case study
damage
FIRES
Forestry
ignition
IGNITION
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
MITIGATION
PERFORMANCE
Portugal wildfire
Science & Technology
SINGLE
statistical analysis
vulnerability
wildfire
wildland-urban interface
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-12-23