ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING OF WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND SUPPRESSION WITHIN THE UK FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

2011年4月下旬至5月，英国发生了广泛报道的“野火危机”，包括在人口非常密集的地区（如伯克郡）。沼地、石楠荒原、林地和森林的野火影响了英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰，导致大规模的景观影响、道路和学校关闭，并给应急服务带来了巨大压力。事实上，尽管不常被宣传，英国消防和救援服务（FRS）每年在英国应对60万起野火，但只有诺森伯兰郡消防和救援服务（NFRS）专门培训野火行为/抑制。NFRS已经制定了将这种培训扩展到其他英国消防和救援服务的责任，这样他们就不会仅仅依赖于结构火灾行为和抑制的知识，这是理解和抑制植被火灾在景观中蔓延的糟糕基础。KCL在遥感、现场火灾测量和使用模拟模型方面具有专业知识。这项KE活动将建立在KCL和NFRS之间的现有联系上，以加强NFRS向其他英国FRS提供的培训计划和材料，以便更广泛的服务能够更好地了解野火行为，使他们能够更有效地做出反应，更好地确定灭火方案以及在野火爆发期间何时何地安全应用这些方案。具体产出将是(i)用于加强FRS人员对野火行为的理解的模拟器，（ii）用于记录火灾行为的基于微型无人机的成像系统和数据处理工具，（iii）代表广泛的英国植被火灾条件的模拟和真实火灾行为的档案，（iv）“英国野火手册”和野火预测系统（WPS），根据本项目获得的知识进行更新。以及(v)基于上述内容的完整培训包，供NFRS未来为英国消防局开设的课程使用。目前，消防中心已经培训了800名人员，预计在未来3年内，消防中心将参与培训多达10个消防部门的600多名人员（这一数字是保守估计）。

Late April - May (2011) saw a widely reported UK 'wildfire crisis', including in very highly populated areas (e.g. Berkshire). Wildfires in moorlands, heathlands, woodlands and forests affected England, Scotland, Wales and NI, leading to large-scale landscape impacts, road and school closures, and significant strain on the emergency services. In fact whilst not commonly publicised, the UK Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) responds to > 60,000 wildfires annually across the UK, yet only the Northumberland FRS (NFRS) train specifically in wildfire behaviour/suppression. NFRS have developed responsibility for extending this training to other UK Fire and Rescue Services so that they do not rely solely on knowledge of structural fire behaviour and suppression, which is a poor basis for understanding and suppressing vegetation fires spreading across landscapes. KCL has expertise in remote sensing, in situ fire measurement, and use of simulation models. This KE activity will build on existing links between KCL and NFRS to enhance the training programme and materials offered by NFRS to other UK FRS', in order that the wider Service can better understand wildfire behaviour, enabling them respond more efficiently and effectively, better identify suppression options and where and when to apply them safely during wildfire outbreaks. Specific outputs will be (i) a simulator for use in enhancing understanding of wildfire behaviour amongst FRS personnel, (ii) a micro-UAV-based imaging system and data processing tools for recoding fire behaviour, (iii) an archive of simulated and real fire behaviours representing a wide range of UK vegetation fire conditions, (iv) a 'UK Wildfire Manual' and the Wildfire Prediction System (WPS), updated with knowledge gained during this project, and (v) a complete training package based on the above for use at future courses run by NFRS for the UK Fire Service. Currently 800 personnel have been trained by NFRS, and it is anticipated that NFRS will be involved in the training of over 600 personnel from up to 10 fire services over the next 3 years (this figure is a conservative estimate).