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Abstract
Prescribed burning is an essential tool for the management of fire. Burns can be complex and involve many variables that pose high levels of risk. Fire planners develop detailed plans to minimize risk, but risk will never be completely eliminated. Burn escapes and shrinking burn windows due to climate change have highlighted the need for a standardized tool to deal with the risks associated with prescribed burning. The Prescribed Burn Decision Support Tool (PB DST) is a risk assessment tool that assists practitioners in recognizing and documenting the risks associated with a prescribed burn and in identifying appropriate controls in a consistent, transparent, repeatable, and quantifiable manner. Based on the International Organisation for Standardization 31000: 2009, Risk Management - Principles and Guidelines, the PB DST facilitates fire planners in describing the burn context, identifying risks, and then determining the likelihood and consequence of potential escape and impacts from smoke. The tool, which has been validated in Australia, also provides fire managers with risk mitigation advice and assists agencies with succession planning by nurturing robust decisionmaking practices among developing staff. The strength of the PB DST has been the demonstrated ability to consistently document decisionmaking based on the best available information.
Parent Publication
Citation
Levine, Brian; Hemer, Simon; Denman, Tom; Farquhar, Scott. 2020. Prescribed burn decision support tool (PB DST): An essential process to support your decisionmaking. In: Hood, Sharon M.; Drury, Stacy; Steelman, Toddi; Steffens, Ron, [eds.]. Proceedings of the Fire Continuum-Preparing for the future of wildland fire; 2018 May 21-24; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-78. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 168-176.
