Role of ornamental vegetation in the propagation of the Rognac Fire, 2016

Abstract

In August 2016, a fire caused by negligence during leisure activities started in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) of Rognac (NE of Marseille, southeast France). The fire was driven by a strong wind and exceptionally dry and warm climatic conditions, burning almost 3,000 ha, mostly in an urbanized area, in a few hours. These severe meteorological conditions led to difficult firefighting operations, already hampered by a lack of resources due to several aircraft being grounded for maintenance and by six other fires burning at the same time in the area. The fire impacted seven communities, ending up in the outskirt of Marseilles, some 15 km away from its ignition point. The Rognac Fire mostly spread in WUI burning primarily ornamental vegetation such as hedges located along the roads that led to buildings. Homes were damaged or destroyed often because of the poor positioning of ornamental vegetation, sometimes combined with a lack of clear-cutting (however mandatory in WUI). This exceptional fire event underlines the need to better understand fire propagation through WUI vegetation. In order to improve fire prevention in WUI under climatic conditions more and more conducive to fire, it is thus necessary to adapt the fire behavior modelling to ornamental vegetation.

Citation

Ganteaume, Anne. 2020. Role of ornamental vegetation in the propagation of the Rognac Fire, 2016. 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. 272-276.