Policies towards the resilience of road-based transport networks to wildfire events: the Iberian case

Abstract

Wildfires are becoming more intense and frequent. This problem has tested the knowledge, response capacity, and resilience achieved by society throughout history, making it clear that they are insufficient to face this new wildfire regime. The effectiveness of the related policies mainly focused on fire suppression rather than prevention is increasingly insufficient and questionable. Consequently, there is a clear lack of tools to assess the impact of wildfire preventive actions. Therefore, it is imperative to review wildfire management practices, policies, and the tools used to support decision-making in this regard. This study performs an analysis of wildfire policies applied in the Iberian Peninsula case (Portugal and Spain), including cross-border policies and the role of road transport networks. A novel simplified methodology is included to evaluate different normal and extreme forest fire management policies in road transport infrastructures. The methodology includes different parameters related to wildfires, such as sources of exposure, identification of natural and artificial barriers, and traffic conditions that capture the economic characteristics of the studied area. The information provided by the tool is useful for strategic investment planning, resource prioritization, and evacuation time management. In addition, due to its simplicity of application, it is a useful tool for cross-border areas.