Forestfireprotection in Poland and Europe.

Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of mitigating systems. In structures, be they land-based, offshore or even ships, the owners and operators are responsible to maintain their facilities in accordance with a design-basis that is rooted in laws, including the local building code and fire code, which are enforced by the Authority Having Jurisdiction.

THE INFLUENCE FACTORS ON THE FOREST FIRE DANGER IN POLAND

About 83% of the forest resources in Poland are subjected to fire risk and the forest fire increases continually. This paper presents the causes increase of the forest fire danger. The existing methods of the forest fire danger classification that developed in Poland and the last changes on the field were discussed. It was demonstrated the statistical data of the fires on high forest (number of fires, area burned, average area of fire, fire causes) in Poland's post-war fire history. Current changes in the causes of occurrence of the forest fires was determined. It was compared the fire danger in the state forests and in the privately owned forests. The forest fire danger increases particularly in the privately owned forests. These forest areas are not good prepared for fire event and firefighting.

Forest fires danger causes The absolute dominance (78.2%) of conifers in the forest stand species composition of our forest, out of which the majority (70.5%) is Scots pine - that is forests particularly vulnerable to forest fire. A significant share of younger stands: 35.0% are stands under 40 years of age, or 56.3% - under 60 years. The dominance of the poorest coniferous forest site types (62%) which, accompanied by the predominance of the even-aged Scots pine monocultures, facilitates the accumulation of flammable material and the establishment of dead forest floor cover. The impact of industrial pollution The growing penetration and accessibility of forests for the recreational purposes.

Fire danger zones Fire danger color key: The State Forests organization units estimate daily fire danger rating levels of forests in 42 forecasted zones that does not include highlands. Fire danger color key: High – red Moderate – yellow Low - green No danger - dark blue Not forecasted region - white No data - grey

FOREST FIRE DANGER IN EUROPE

Forest fires are the most important threat to forest and wooded area in Southern Europe. Reports of forest fires in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain show that in these areas more than 450,000 ha burned on average each year between 2000 and 2006. In 2007 the phenomenon got even worse, especially in the south-eastern countries (Greece and Italy in particular), and the total area burned was about 500,000 ha.

The causes of fire are various, but as a matter of fact the Mediterranean basin is marked by a strong prevalence of human induced fires. In some cases they are initiated voluntarily, e.g. for criminal reasons. In many others they are related to agricultural and forestry activities, e.g. fires for agricultural cleaning that go out of control. Other factors then come in to play in the spreading of fire, which make fire more difficult to contain and fight. Sometimes lack of coordination between institutional structures responsible for forest fires can also lead to ineffective forest management. Extreme weather or climate change: Southern Europe is usually characterised by hot and dry summers, associated to high levels of fire hazard. Strong summer winds in addition can make fire spread at high speed. Furthermore, research on climate change indicates that increased fire hazard is likely to arise from global warming.

Effects of Wildfires Wildfires take away homes, wildlife, as well as vegetation. All of the inhabitants of the wildlife environment now are found homeless. People often lose their houses as well if the fires are close enough to human housing. The soil in the area of the wildfire has been completely destroyed. Animals lose their lives. It is sad but true fact that birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other wildlife animals are no longer a part of this great earth. Trees and plants are gone as well. Trees and plants help to produce oxygen in the world. The less trees and plants there are the less clean air we have to breathe. With no plants or trees, the animals that did survive no longer have anything to eat

Source of information http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/wfc/xii/0009-b3.htm Barbara Ubysz  http://www.lasy.gov.pl/information/fire-danger-zones Dyrekcja Generalna Lasów Państwowych ttph://www.ieep.eu/assets/392/forest_fires_report.pdf Yanne GOOSSENS

Authors Katarzyna Raab I el Kinga Wierdak I el Mateusz Szajna I el ZSP nr 5 w Krośnie