Effects of Improving Forest Road Standards on Shortening the Arrival Time of Ground-based Firefighting Teams Accessing to the Forest Fires

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 32 - 38, 30.06.2021

Abdullah Emin Akay , Ekaterina Podolskaia Zennure Uçar

https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.952174

Cited By: 4

Abstract

In fighting against forest fires, it is crucial for the ground-based firefighting team to reach a fire area in critical response time in which the chance of controlling the fires is significantly high. Road networks are the key infrastructures that provide access to the forest areas for the protection of forest resources. In order to benefit from this important function of roads, especially in forested areas with high natural forest fire risk, they should be built in with adequate technical road standards since the low standards limit the fire truck speed that increases the arrival time of the firefighting team to the fire areas. Most of the forest roads in Turkey are Type-B secondary forest roads with low technical road standards (road width, curve radius, surface materials) that limit the speed of fire trucks. This paper aimed to evaluate the potential contribution of improving the standards of Type-B secondary forest roads in terms of increasing accessible forested areas in critical response time in the case of forest fire occurrence. The study area was Kahramanmaraş Forestry Enterprise Directorate (FED), where forests are sensitive to forest fires at the first degree. In the solution process, firstly, accessible forest areas by the firefighting teams (six teams) located in the study area according to the critical response time were determined by considering the existing road network in the study area. In the second scenario, the possible increase in the accessible forest areas with improved forest road standards and increased travel speed in forest roads was investigated. The results indicated that the areas that can be reached promptly by the firefighting teams in critical response time were 21% and 44% for considering existing roads and improved roads in the whole study area. On the other hand, the accessible forested areas in critical response time increased from 17% to 36% when standards of the forest roads were improved. It is indicated that improving road standards has a significant value to contribute the efficiency of firefighting activities if the practitioners implemented presented methodology.

Keywords

Forest roads, road standards, forest fires, firefighting, critical response time

References

• Akay, A.E., Wing, G.M., Sivrikaya, F., Sakar, D. 2012. A GIS-based decision support system for determining the shortest and safest route to forest fires: a case study in Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 184(3): 1391-1407.
• Akay, A. E., Karaş, I. R., Kahraman, I. 2018. Determining the locations of potential firefighting teams by using GIS techniques. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-4/W9, International Conference on Geomatics and Geospatial Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3–5 September 2018.
• Akay, A.E., Serin, H., Sessions, J., Bilici, E., Pak, M. 2021. Evaluating the Effects of Improving Forest Road Standards on Economic Value of Forest Products. Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering. 42(2): 245-258.
• Bilici, E. 2009. A Study on the Integration of Firebreaks and Fireline with Forest Roads Networks and It's Planning and Construction (A Case Study of Gallipoly National Park) Istanbul University. Faculty of Forestry Journal Series: A, 59(2): 86-102.
• Burgan, R.E., Klaver, R.W., Klaver, J.M. 1998. Fuel Models and Fire Potential From Satellite and Surface Observations. International Journal of Wildland Fire 8(3): 159-170.
• Eker, Ö., Abdurrahmanoğlu, D.M. 2018. An Analysis on the Expenses of Combating Forest Fires: Case of Kahramanmaraş Regional Directorate of Forestry. Turkish Journal of Forest Science, 2(1): 34-48.
• GDF, 2008. Fire Action Plan. General Directorate of Forestry. Kahramanmaras Forest Regional Directorate, Kahramanmaras. 106 p.
• GDF, 2012. Strategic Plan (2013-2017), General Directorate of Forestry, Strategy Development Department, Ankara, 98 p.
• GDF, 2013. Forest Fires Combat Assessment Meeting, General Directorate of Forestry, Ankara, Turkey.
• Gendreau, M., Laporte, G., Semet, F. 2001. A dynamic model and parallel tabu search heuristic for real-time ambulance relocation. Parallel Computing, 27: 1641-1653.
• Ghiani, G., Guerriero, F., Laporte, G., Musmanno, R. (2003). Real-time vehicle routing: Solution concepts, algorithms and parallel computing strategies. Eur J Oper Res, 151: 1-11.
• Ichoua, S., Gendreau, M., Potvin, J.Y. 2000. Diversion issues in real-time vehicle dispatching. Transportation Science, 34: 426-435.
• Karabulut M., Karakoç A., Gürbüz M., Kızılelma Y. 2013. Determination of Forest Fire Risk Areas Using Geographical Information Systems in Başkonuş Mountain (Kahramanmaraş). The Journal of International Social Research, 6(24): 171-179.
• Keenan, P. 2008. Modelling vehicle routing in GIS. Operational Research, 8(3): 201-218.
• Keramitsoglou, I., Kiranoudis, C.T., Sarimveis, H., Sifakis, N. (2004). A multidisciplinary decision support system for forest fire crisis management. Environmental Management, 33(2): 212-225.
• Kucuk, O., Unal, S. 2005. Determination of Fire Sensitivity Degree: A Case Study in Tasköprü State Forest Enterprise. Kafkas University Faculty of Forestry Journal, 6(1-2):28-34.
• Manussaridis, Z., Mamaloukas, Ch., Spartalis, S. 2007. A VRS Dimension Framework for Effective DSS Design, Applied Mathematical Sciences, 1(42): 2079-2090.
• Podolskaia, E.S., Kovganko, K.K., Ershov, D.V., Shulyak, P.P., and Suchkov, A.I. 2019. Using of transport network model to estimate travelling time and distance for ground access a forest fire. Forest Science Issues, 2(1): 1-24.
• Podolskaia E., Ershov D., Kovganko K. 2020. Comparison of data sources on transport infrastructure for the regional forest fire management, Managing forests in the 21st century, Conference at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Potsdam 2020), 59 p.
• Şakar, D. 2010. Determining the Optimum Route Providing the Fastest Transportation to the Fire Areas by Using GIS Based Decision Support System. MSc Thesis. KSU, Faculty of Forestry, Kahramanmaras. Turkey. 81 p
• Sampson, R.N., Atkinson, R.D., Lewis, J.W. 2000. Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks, Food Product Press, 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA, 343p.
• TIBD, 2010. Traffic Inspection Branch Directorate, İstanbul. http://trfdenetleme.iem.gov.tr/asiri_hiz.aspx Last visit: 15/05/2021.
• Zhan, F.B. 1997. Three fastest shortest path algorithms on real road networks: Data structures and procedures. Journal of Geographic Information and Decision Analysis, 1: 70-82.