Rethinking How to Protect Dwellings against Wildfires
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 35, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper presents research concerning new fireproof construction guidelines for protection of dwellings against wildfires. The main subject of this study are newly-built houses, using current building materials and methods to maintain the integrity of the overall structure for an extended time during an ongoing fire exposure. This study also presents possibilities for use of these new construction techniques to rehabilitate existing houses located in highly endangered wildland fire areas. The scope of this study are traditional dwellings situated mainly in the south of Europe, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece, located in high risk wildfire zones in the wildland-urban interface. In recent years, wildfires have had a major impact on the forest areas in Portugal, mostly due to the high combustibility of the wildland and to climate change, causing severe lasting damage to, or even the destruction of, dwellings. The dwellings have often been rebuilt with similar characteristics to the original ones, disregarding interventions with new techniques that would make them fire protected, thus making them likely to burn again. As a result of these analyses, this study provides new fireproof construction guidelines for new and old dwellings, using traditional materials found in the construction industry of Europe. Finally, as a future reference, the situation of isolated villages surrounded by forests is also investigated and solutions are proposed to protect the inhabitants.
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Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
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Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 35 • Issue 6 • December 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2021
Accepted: Jun 8, 2021
Published online: Aug 24, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 24, 2022
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