A review of post-incident studies for wildland-urban interface fires

Abstract

Post-incident studies provide direct and valuable information to further the scientific understanding of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires. Most post-incident studies involve data collection in the field (i.e. a “research field deployment”). In this review, technical reports of post-incident studies for WUI fire and other natural disasters were analyzed and professionals directly involved in WUI fire research field deployments were interviewed. The goal of this review is to provide a resource for future WUI studies regarding the development of safe and effective fieldwork procedures, the collection and integration of accurate and relevant data, and the establishment of practical lessons learned. Three main stages of WUI fire post-incident studies are identified and described in detail. Data collection methodologies, data attributes, logistical practices and lessons-learned were compiled from various past studies and are presented here in the context of application to WUI fire.

Keywords

• Wildland-urban interface fire
• WUI fire
• Post-incident study
• Natural disaster study