Climate, fuel, planning (urban planning) and social behavior: Potentials forest fire risk.

Jaime Senabre. 

Director SINIF. Psychologist and Environmental Consultant.

Reseacher Group 0n "Climate and Terrotorial Planning". University of Alicante. 

Abstract:

Paradoxically, everything indicates that the cost of suppressing forest fires is increasing and that it´s associated with greater investment and efficiency in emergency services. In general terms, three main causes can explain this upward trend: fuel accumulation (associated with the suppression of past forest fires), urban development in areas prone to fire episodes and the current trend of climate change. Although it´s hopeless, but it seems that the human being has little capacity to stop the effects of the climate on the risk of forest fire. The opposite is an anthropocentric illusion. On the other hand, it´s hard to think of a Public Administration that can allocate economic budgets for the management and control of fuel that are in tune with the rate of accumulation of these. Science fiction would be to imagine that such accumulation could be reversed. Given this scenario of initial disabilities, the focus of hope on society can be put. The humans have a preponderant role in the number of ignitions (negligent or intentional) in Spain, so it will be of great importance to try to modify the behavior of the owners, current and future, with respect to the potential risk of forest fire and, very especially, in those cases where there are human settlements in areas prone to register emergencies due to forest fire, such as urban forest interface areas (IUF). After experiencing a large forest fire, there are changes in the perception of risk and in the general attitude towards forest fires in the owners of homes in the affected area. Therefore, we infer that only from the understanding of the potential fire risk, the owners will be in the best conditions to undertake actions aimed at reducing the risk. Environmental education about forest fires can motivate homeowners to undertake prevention and self-protection actions to reduce risk and possible damage to property and people. At the society level, perhaps one of the best ways to combat the drama of forest fires is to create more fireresistant containment and defense structures, mainly in the most critical risk areas such as those of IUF. In this study, supported by numerous works carried out in the US Forest Service and in other recent investigations by the author in Spain, we carried out an analysis of some aspects that we consider essential in the risk of forest fire, due to its ability to enhance and modulate the evolution of fire.

Citation: Senabre, J. (2019). Climate, fuel, planning and social behavior: Potentials forest. In Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences (J Earth Environ Sci) 2019, Volume 3, pp 63. DOI: 10.29011/2577-0640-C1-006

Conference Proceedingss - 2nd International Conference on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change (November 28-29, 2019 | Rome, Italy)

The mitigation of the effects of climate change and global warming through the prevention and early extinction of forest fires.

Jaime Senabre

Director of SINIF.
University of Alicante, Spain.

Abstract: 

 

The Planet is immersed in an ecological crisis. To a large extent, human behavior has been aggravating the deterioration of the environment. Fire is a natural ecological factor that acts as a regulating agent of vegetation and landscape shaper. However, forest fires have gone from being a tool for survival to becoming an environmental problem that doesn ́t understand borders and that affects all the components of the environment (atmosphere, vegetation, fauna, soil and water) and that requires an integral approach, both locally and globally. The forest is a source of wealth that must be protected, conserved, revalued and improved productivity. Forest fires are a source of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere that are dangerous and pose a significant threat, since they can degrade the air that is breathed at unhealthy levels, mainly in geographic areas near the site of the forest fire, but also in others distant, since these pollutants, invisible to the human eye, can travel thousands of kilometers driven by the wind. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of pollutant emissions from forest fires, since these may be influencing global warming and climate change. Likewise, we propose a series of basic actions that serve as a starting point to establish an Integral Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires and that include: the early extinction of the fire (to reduce to the maximum the burnt surface and the polluting emissions), management of the forest (including: preventive forestry, limited use of fire, promotion of grazing, regularization of activities and productivity of forest resources), mosaic landscape design (which seeks the fragmentation of the territory), urban planning (which minimizes the risks in the forest urban interface), greater professionalization and coordination of emergency services (especially forest firefighters), the promotion of self-protection (individual and collective) and, finally, education (to increase environmental awareness and proactive behavior). In short, we are aware that fire has an ecological role and that its suppression is impossible, but we must focus on those actions that contribute least to the global deterioration of the Planet.

Citation: Senabre, J. (2019). The mitigation of the effects of climate change and global warming through the prevention and early extinction of forest fires. Journal of Expert Opnion on Environmental Biology.. ISSN: 2325-9655. Volume 8. 3rd. World Summit on Climate Change and Global Warming. Prague, Czech Republic. Book of abstracts. pp53. DOI: 10.4172/2325-9655-C1-045

The experience of trauma in forest firefighters through indirect exposure.

Jaime Senabre

Director of SINIF.
University of Alicante, Spain.

One of the characteristics of work in the extinction of forest fires is the exposure of forest firefighters to situations that require a great demand of personal resources, both physical and psychological, which is an important source of stress for these professionals. On occasion, forest firefighters face critical situations that can be a traumatic experience capable of generating deep discomfort, both individually and collectively. This type of negative events can cause invisible emotional scars, difficult to erase and complex approach. Now, we know that an inadequate management of empathy towards victims can facilitate the initiation of a process of secondary traumatic stress in firefighters, due to emotional contagion. This paper deals with indirect exposure to trauma through the indiscriminate consumption of images and traumatic stories offered by the media (press and TV) or social networks. Our research team was able to observe how Forest Fire Brigades, which participated as Control Group in a study on emotional impact in forest firefighters after a forest fire in Spain with fatalities, manifested post-traumatic symptomatology, almost at the same level as those firefighters who participated directly in the works of extinction of that fire. The conclusions indicate that indirect exposure to trauma, uncontrolled empathy towards victims, and social or professional identification with victims may have (both in emergency professionals and in the general population) emotional consequences, similar to those produced in the direct victims of the fire, as well as a latent predisposition to manifest maladaptive behaviors before similar situations or that remember the lived experience.Finally, guidelines are offered on "what to do" to avoid emotional contagion due to indirect exposure to trauma, such as, for example, a dosed and unrepeated consumption of news and images with a heavy dramatic load.

 ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Psychol Psychother

 Citation: Senabre, J. (2018). The experience of trauma in forest firefighters through indirect exposure. Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy. ISSN: 2161-0487. Volume 8. World Summit on Stress, Mindfulness and Philosophy. Boston, USA. Book of abstracts. pp52. DOI: 10.4172/2161-0487-C4-032

World Summit on Stress, Mindfulness and Philosophy. August 27-28, 2018 | Boston, USA.

Violence in fire stations: A study with Spanish firefighters.

Jaime Senabre Director of SINIF.

University of Alicante, Spain.

Abstract

Violence of any kind between humans is nothing new. In the last decades a great interest has been awakened by the study of violence developed in work environments. Variety, temporality and frequency are necessary criteria for diagnosis. Factors related to the organization of work and the work environment could facilitate this type of behavior. Likewise, personality factors of the aggressor and the victim could play a role in the whole process, as well as the type of response of the aggrieved person. For the analysis, three questionnaires will be used, one of personality factors, the LIPT-60, on perception and strategies of workplace harassment and a Spanish adaptation of the MBI conducted by Senabre (2005) for fire services. The sample is composed of 34 firefighters, of which 20 are forest firefighters. Preliminary results suggest that 8.82% of the participants in the study reported that they had the perception that they were being harassed in their work, compared to 91.17% who don???t think that they have this work situation. Affability, age and emotional fatigue do seem to play their role in different ways. Younger professionals seem to be the most vulnerable to suffer this type of behavior, as well as those who are more emotionally exhausted. However, the more affable firefighters, that is, those who are more pleasant and friendly can be less affected by this type of aggression. Another important fact that emerges from this research is that there is a clear trend in these groups to deny any behavior of harassment, so the figures could be higher. Thus, we can conclude that workplace harassment is present in the fire services, being the strategies of job loss of prestige and intimidation manifested the most prevalent in the sample studied, followed by the obstruction of progress. The loss of prestige in the workplace is more frequently used by forest firefighters and the intimidation manifested among structural firefighters. According to the data provided in this study, we can notice that violent behaviors and harassment occur in fire stations, especially when working conditions are more precarious.

Citation: Senabre, Jaime (2018). Violence in fire stations: A study with Spanish firefighters. In Journal of Child & Adolescent Behaviour, Vol. 6, pp 43. DOI: 10.4172/2375-4494-C1-006

Journal of Child & Adolescent Behaviour | ISSN: 2375-4494 | Volume 6

30^th World Psychiatrists and Psychologists Meet. Osaka, Japan.

The emotional impact caused by a traumatic event and the process of second victimization in forest firefighters.

Jaime Senabre

Director of SINIF.

University of Alicante, Spain.

Abstract:

The forest fire extinguishing services sometimes face critical situations that can suppose a traumatic experience capable of generating a deep discomfort in the interveners, such as the loss of companions during the work of extinction, burns caused by the fire, the emotional impact in situations of entrapment, etc. This type of negative events can provoke fear and feelings of terror in the victims, as well as invisible emotional scars, difficult to erase and of complex approach.

An inadequate assistance to this type of professionals, affected by a critical incident of these characteristics can originate various processes of victimization, causing a psychological damage characterized by pain, anger, indignation, guilt, fear, awe, intense re-experimentation of what was lived, physiological and psychological hyperactivation, apathy, helplessness, feeling of loss of control, insecurity and avoidance behaviors.

The absence of empathy and sensitivity of the staff that attends to the victims, together with a lack of information and a mismatch between the expected and received treatment can cause a negative feeling in the firefighters affected by the traumatic incident, capable of initiating a process of revictimization called second victimization. In this work, concepts such as traumatic experience, traumatic event, psychological damage and second victimization are addressed.

Likewise, the conditioning factors of the emotional impact (external and internal), the objectives of the psychological help work and the basic skills to develop it are pointed out. Also, the phases through which the forest firefighters go when they suffer a revictimization are indicated. 

Finally, some guidelines are offered on what to do to avoid a second victimization.

Citation: Senabre, Jaime (2018).  The emotional impact caused by a traumatic event and the process of second victimization in forest firefighters. In Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Vol. 8, pp 38 DOI: 10.4172/2161-0487-C3-030

PDF link

Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy

Forest fires and social perception of the landscape: A study with Spanish population.

Jaime Senabre
University of Alicante, Spain.
Director of SINIF.

Abstract 

Forest fires are a global environmental problem that burn millions of hectares every year throughout the planet, causing human and economic losses as well as significant degradation of the natural environment. In Southern Europe, with Spain and Portugal at the head, 70% of the continent's forest fires occur. The growing human population and continuous occupation of the territory, exercise a role of domination and submission of nature. For this and other reasons, we can´t omit the involvement of humans in the probability of occurrence of fires in the world. At present, it seems obvious that we are experiencing a change of trend in aspects such as temperature and precipitation rates, something that, together with other environmental evidences, has been associated with global climate change. In this context and as it always did, fire plays a modulating role in the characteristics of the vegetation and the structure of the landscape. This last aspect is the one we focus on in this study. Some of our findings determine that 95.90%, of the Spanish population surveyed, consider that there is a representative and characteristic landscape in the area where they live. We have also found that the "recreational" value of landscape is greater than the "economic" value, an aspect that may be relevant when it comes to forest management and forest fires. On the other hand, we have been able to confirm the high concern of Spanish citizens for the threat posed by natural phenomena to the landscape of their community and, especially, the concern about the threat of forest fires on the landscape, where 80.34% of our sample has identified damage to the landscape due to the impact of forest fires. Studies on social perception are a good tool for planning and improving prevention and risk management, as well as for the development of environmental policies appropriate to each specific territory. 

Environment Pollution and Climate Change Open Access (ISSN: 2573-458X)

PDF: Forest fires and social perception of the landscape: A study with Spanish population.

Citation:  Senabre, Jaime (2018). Forest fires and social perception of the landscape: A study with Spanish population. In Environment Pollution and Climate Change, 2018, Volume 2. pp84. DOI: 10.4172/2573-458X-C1-002

 

5^th World Conference on Climate Change. 2018, London, UK.

Recent Publications 
1. Senabre J (2018) Forest fires from the perspective of environmental psychology. Climate Change 4(13).
2. Senabre J (2017) Wildland fires, climate change and society. J. Earth Sci Clim. Change 8(10).
3. Senabre J (2016) Wildland fires and climate change. J. Earth Sci Clim. Change 7(5).

Forest fires and soil loss: A threat to biodiversity.

Jaime Senabre.
University of Alicante, Spain.
Director of SINIF.

Abstract:

Society doesn’t seem to be aware of the negative effects that forest fires have on the soil, whose degradation can become irreversible in many cases. The soil is one of the fundamental elements for life on Earth and that isn’t given due attention. In the same way, in the studies on forest fires the action of the natural risks in territories affected by forest fires and the influence of these in the loss of soil are little taken into account. A determining factor of plant productivity is the quality of the soil, a limited resource that is easily destroyed, not only by the incidence of fires, but by the climatic and meteorological conditions to which the area affected by fire can be subjected: Torrential rains, floods, droughts, extreme temperatures, strong winds that can accentuate the loss of nutrients and erosion. According to data obtained from a survey on the perception of risk by natural phenomena carried out with the Spanish population (n=1223), 67.54% of the respondents think that they live in an area threatened by some natural phenomenon and 73.02% indicate that at some moment in his life, some natural disaster has occurred that has damaged the community in which he lives. In this line, another study conducted by our research group provides us with relevant data on the frequency perception of forest fires in Spain (n=1068), where 58.52% of the population declare to suffer the impact of forest fires each year, 5.34% every 10 years or more and 3.46% never. Given these findings on risk perception and based on actual incidence data, it is possible to prepare, not only forest fire risk maps, but also risk maps of natural hazards to relate them, in order to establish the potential risk of loss of soil and the possible threat to biodiversity, based, mainly, on the observed changes in fire and natural disaster regimes.

Citation: Jaime Senabre (2018). Forest fires and soil loss: A threat to biodiversity. In Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography. Volume 8 (pp 43). DOI: 10.4172/2157-7625-C4-041 

Journal Link: 

https://www.omicsonline.org/ArchiveJEE/biodiversity-congress-2018-proceedings-tracks.php 

7^th International Conference on Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management

 July 26-27, 2018 Melbourne, Australia

Social perception of natural hazards in the province of Alicante, Spain: A comparative analysis.

Jaime Senabre. University of Alicante, Spain Abstract  Natural risks are natural processes that can have their function in nature, but when they manifest they have a direct impact on societies and on the environment. Historically, the human being has been subjected to the threat of natural phenomena, such as floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires, etc. The exposure to risk is always associated with the territory or geographical area inhabited. The risks, far from being reduced, increase in a world of increasing population and colonization of the territory. From environmental psychology, natural hazards are interpreted as stressful experiences that the individual or community must face, looking for the most appropriate strategies for each situation. We propose a comparative analysis between two different samples of the population of the province of Alicante (Spain). The data has been obtained by adapting the same measurement instrument and following a similar procedure, but taken in two different time periods, 2012 (Ramos R, Olcina J Y, Molina S 2014) Y 2017 (Senabre J). The results indicated that the threat perception of natural hazards has increased and that society perceives in a more pessimistic way the evolution of the impact of natural phenomena. The main perceived threats (forest fires, drought, desertification, extreme temperatures and floods) are maintained in both studies, although there have been significant changes in the level of importance that society gives each one of them. The risk of drought is the only threat that doesn’t offer qualitative changes in perception, occupying the second place in both cases, although there are differences at a quantitative level. Likewise, the data indicate that, in recent years, the society has received more information about of this type of risk. The studies on risk perception are a good tool for improving risk management and for the development of environmental policies appropriate to each specific territory.
2nd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Disaster Management  Scientific Abstracts: J Earth Sci Clim Change   DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C2-042
Citation: Senabre, J. (2018). Social perception of natural hazards in the province of Alicante, Spain: A comparative analysis. In J Earth Sci Clim Change 2018, Volume 9, pp20. DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C2-042
pdf: https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/2157-7617-C2-042-004.pdf

Modulating effect of hardiness in the development of emotional trauma in firefighters trapped in forest fire.

Abstract

Some authors have pointed out that the individuals with resistant personality deal with stressful situations in an active and committed way, perceiving them as less threatening. Also, we know that stress acts as a mediator in the predisposition, precipitation or exacerbation of the disease. Emergency services professionals are often confronted with numerous critical incidents that are likely to break into their lives and cause them to suffer, often because of their surprising nature. The traumatic experience is pointed out as one of the most revealing sources of deep discomfort. The aim of this study is to determine if the resistant personality or hardiness plays a role as a modulator of the stress experience and, more specifically, the development of posttraumatic stress. To this end, we evaluated a sample of firefighters, who were surprised by the fire in an entrapment situation during the extinction of a forest fire in the province of Alicante (Spain) and that had a fatal outcome for some of the emergency device personnel. The results indicate that 37.5% of the sample developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the clinical level after the month of the incident and 25% some type of posttraumatic symptomatology (PTSD sub-syndrome); the remaining 37.5% were not emotionally affected by that stress experience. On the other hand, the dispersion analysis shows a tendency to the appearance of PTSD as the hardiness decreases (figure 1). These results support the idea that resistant personality can play a modulating role in the development of emotional trauma. The dimensions of the construct, implication and challenge, seem to have a greater role in this stress modulating process, being the influence of control more contained. In the discussion, emphasis is given on the need for specialized evaluation and follow up after the experience of a critical incident of these characteristics, as well as the design of training actions aimed at the development of knowledge, skills, abilities and psychological skills in professionals belonging to the different emergency services, and more specifically, firefighters.

 https://www.omicsonline.org/proceedings/modulating-effect-of-hardiness-in-the-development-of-emotional-trauma-in-firefighters-trapped-in-forest-fire-85033.html

4^th International Conference on Mental Health and Human Resilience

Cita:  Senabre, J. (2018). Modulating effect of hardiness in the development of emotional trauma in firefighters trapped in forest fire. In International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience 2018, Volume 20, pp 52. DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C1-011. ISSN: 1522-4821.

https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/1522-4821-C1-011-011.pdf

Wildland fires, climate change and landscape perception in a region of eastern Spain.

3rd GoGreen Summit
23rd-24th, March 2018. Manila, Philippines
"Wildland fires, climate change and landscape perception in a region of eastern Spain"
Jaime Senabre
Researcher of the Group on Climate and Territorial Planning. University of Alicante (Spain).
Director of SINIF.
ISBN: 978-81-932966-1-5

Abstract
Wildland fires are a landscape modeling agent that is closely linked to climatic variations and the structure of vegetation. Although it depends on the species and zones, a burned forest can take in recovering between 50 and 100 years.
Modern societies have undergone recent socio-economic changes with implications for the landscape and the natural or sustainable fire regime. Some regions of southern Europe are particularly hit by recurrent episodes of fires. In Mediterranean areas forest fires reach a larger size and occur under extreme conditions. The Valencian Community is framed within a context of Mediterranean climate favorable to the spread of fire, where it is common for a few fires to affect a high percentage of the areaburned during the year and where human activities have conditioned and modified their capacity of recovery, mainly, due to recurrence.
In Spain, the Great Wildland Fires are those that leave the most trace in an increasingly ambushed landscape. Although they account for 0.18% of total claims, they account for 44% of the area burned each year. In the Valencian Community, this figure rises to 85%.
A forest fire is a disturbing phenomenon that can have a great territorial impact and suppose a dramatic change in the landscape. The visual fragility of the landscape is related to the capacity of visual absorption or ability of the landscape to accommodate modifications that produce variations in its visual character. At the time of determining the spread of fire, the structural configuration of the landscape plays an important role, for this reason in the analysis of risk and vulnerability it´s necessary to take into account the evolution of the characteristic elements of each landscape to managethe risk of an integral way.
In Mediterranean ecosystems, high population density increases ignitions and frequency of fires. The high temperatures, the drought and the west winds are the worst enemy of the forests, especially in the central and southeastern Mediterranean, scope of this study, in which, from a psychosocial approach, we will know some aspects about the way of perceiving the landscape in a region of eastern Spain.
In summary: The future fire regime depends not only on climate, but there are other factors that can be more relevant when modeling fires and landscapes, and, without a doubt, the human being is targeted as the main fire regime modifier throughout the planet.

Forest fires from the perspective of environmental psychology (Senabre, J.)

Forest fires from the perspective of

environmental psychology.

Jaime Senabre. Psicólogo.

Citation: Jaime Senabre. Forest fires from the perspective of environmental psychology. Climate Change, 2018, 4(13), 58-68

Link to the Journal:

http://www.discoveryjournals.org/climate_change/current_issue/v4/n13/index.htm  

Link to the full article:

http://www.discoveryjournals.org/climate_change/current_issue/v4/n13/A5.pdf

 

 

Abstract.

Forest fires are a global environmental problem influenced by numerous causal factors. They must be conceived as a latent risk in current societies that can compromise the economic and social development of future generations, especially in rural areas. In Spain, thousands of hectaresof forest and agricultural land are destroyed annually. The Valencian Community is one of the regions of the country most affected by this type of disturbance, reaching, sometimes, disastrous consequences.  

One of the reasons why an individual, a community and a society do not act in a preventive manner in the face of the likelihood of a risk is because of the perception of the probability of occurrence of that risk and the proximity of its consequences. Although it may happen that you do not have the necessary resources to prevent or minimize it. Add a determining factor, the will.

Aware that the same risk can have different interpretations and meanings, a study is proposed, with a general population, that deepens the analysis of the perception of risk on the reality of forest fires, the willingness to act against them and the predictive factors of both variables.

Keywords: Forest fire, prevention, risk perception, environmental, climate change

THE 3D MODEL OF STRESS IN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS. (Senabre, J.)

MODELO 3D DE ESTRÉS EN BOMBEROS FORESTALES
Jaime Senabre. Psicólogo.

http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/sevilla-2007/contributions/doc/cd/SESIONES_TEMATICAS/ST6/Senabre2_SPAIN_Alicante.pdf

• Actas de la IV Conferencia Internacional sobre Incendios Forestales, Sevilla (España), 13-18 de mayo de 2007. ISBN: 978-84-8014-690-6
• Resúmenes de las Comunicaciones de la IV Conferencia Internacional sobre Incendios Forestales, Sevilla (España), 13-18 de mayo de 2007. ISBN: 978-84-8014-691-3
  

Resumen:
El Modelo Tridimensional de Estrés pretende explicar de manera global el riesgo que tiene el profesional de emergencias de manifestar síntomas de estrés (Senabre, J., 2004). Utilizando como ejemplo los servicios de bomberos, se ofrece un enfoque práctico del concepto de estrés y de sus fuentes en este tipo de profesionales. Los incendios forestales servirán de marco explicativo de este modelo, ya que suponen una situación potencialmente estresante para los efectivos intervinientes en los mismos, destacando prioritariamente a los bomberos que actúan en primera línea de fuego, los pilotos de los medios aéreos, los conductores de vehículos pesados, los operadores de radio y los mandos de coordinación del incendio. La intervención en la emergencia, las características del propio servicio o la organización del mismo, y los factores de personalidad idiosincráticos de cada bombero, conforman los tres pilares que sustentan este enfoque.

Palabras clave: Estrés, Modelo Tridimensional de Estrés, Bomberos, Incendios Forestales

Abstract:
The Three-Dimensional Model of Stress try to explain of global way the risk that the emergency workers have to manifest stress symptoms (Senabre, J., 2004).Taking for example the Fire Department, propose it a practical approach of the stress concept and its sources on that kind of professionals. The forest fires will be use to explain this model, since they suppose it a potential stress situation for workers to fight on them, marking priority the firemen to be working on a first line of fire, the pilots plains, fire engine drivers, the radio operators and the fire coordination commands. The operations on emergency, the characteristic of the own service or its organization, and the idiosyncratic personality factors of each fire-fighter, make up the three pillars that maintain this approach.

Key words: Stress, Three-Dimensional Model of Stress, Firemen, Forest Fires