Forestfireprotection in Poland and Europe.

Forest fire  Forest fire is one of the most basic reasons of damage in the forest environment. Considering the growing tendency of forest fire number within the last few years as well as the magnitude of resulting loss, forest fires are still more frequently considered an ecological disaster.

The absolute dominance (78 The absolute dominance (78.2%) of conifers in the forest stand species composition of our forest, out of which the majority (70.5%) is Scots pine - that is forests particularly vulnerable to forest fire. A significant share of younger stands: 35.0% are stands under 40 years of age, or 56.3% - under 60 years. The dominance of the poorest coniferous forest site types (62%) which, accompanied by the predominance of the even-aged Scots pine monocultures, facilitates the accumulation of flammable material and the establishment of dead forest floor cover. The impact of industrial pollution: as many as 80% of stands had been damaged in different degree in the period 1990-1994; later, beginning with the year 1995 a significant decrease in the share of damaged forest stands has been observed (60%). There is, however, spatial differentiation in the injury level intensity: it is uneven, depending on the region. The damage caused by the industrial pollution has resulted in the establishment of stands characterized by the lowered trees density. Losses and causes Potentially, about 83% of the total forest resources in Poland are subjected to fire risk which - compared with the Europe's average respective figure equal 65%, gives the evidence of the undesired advantage of our country in this respect. The actually huge forest area endangered with fire: 7.2 million ha, has been the result of the below listed factors:

Another factor contributing to the elevated of fire danger and consequently the increased number and area burned of forest fires, is the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions - facilitating forest fire, accompanied by rapid changes in atmospheric fronts. Moreover, the general climate warming and the warm and often snowless winters cause the elongation of the fire season: also winter and autumn months are becoming the increased fire season. An example may be given of the year 1999 in which the maximum intensity of fires (2106) was observed in September.

Forest fire danger classifications Depending on the size of the fire and the number of forces and resources taking part in the firefighting operation, 3 degrees are distinguished: • The district, when the firefighters participate only from the county (small fires - up to about 10 hectares) • Voivodships where the fire exceeds the capacity of units from the county or when min. 2 districts (large fires - up to about 100 ha) • Domestic when the size of the fire exceeds the possibility of extinguishing by the units of the voivodeship or min. 2 voivodships (catastrophic fires - up to about 1000 ha) Forest fire danger classifications Following the revision, considered were not only those earlier employed factors: stand age and species composition, climatic condition geographic context presence of town agglomerations and industrial centersas well as fire frequency

Statistical data on forest fires Statistical data on forest fires in post- war Poland show a clearly growing tendency, both in numbers and burnt area (Fig. 1). The mean number of yearly occurring fires on high forest had doubled with in the decade 1981- 1990. During the next decade it became three times larger than that observed in the period 1951-1960 (Tab. 1). The average yearly size of burnt area, after a temporary yet clear decrease - has risen again in the period 1991- 2000. The mean area of a single forest fire in State Forests has diminished by more than two times in the same period (considering the 10-year intervals) or even more than 5 times, considering the 5-year periods. In the period 1991- 2000 the total burnt forest area was 109,146 ha and the total number of fires was 83,061.

Fire danger causes in the privately forests At present, no legal restrictions are binding that would enforce the forest owner to undertake protection measures against forest fire, for forests or forest complexes below 100 ha of area. In fact, however, neither the larger privately owned forest complexes - despite the formal obligation to preventive fire control action - are prepared for a fire case. The regulation cannot be executed under the present day hard economic condition. All these circumstances have made that the private forests are, in the majority of cases, not at all prepared for the fire protection.

Forest fire protection system in Poland The system contains, among other, the following solutions in the field of fire protection of forest area: 1. criteria and principles of classification of forest stands and forested areas to particular classes of forest fire risk, 2. the methods of assessment of forest fire risk (including the forecasting of the fire risk of considering the actual weather forecast - Szczygieł 1991, Wiler 2000), 3. the principles of the information-warning activity. It is estimated that, following the possible decisions altering the present legal status of our forest, its major part (71.2% or 4. 891 thousand ha) of now state forests owned by the State Purse and administered by State Forests will change its ownership status. Under such circumstances one cannot expect a significant improvement

Fire statistics in Polish voivodshipS Gray - ALL fires  Red - Forest fires

source http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/wfc/xii/0 009-b3.htm Barbara Ubysz - Department of Forest Fire Protection. Forest Research Institute. 00-973 Warsaw, 3 Bitwy Warszawskiej Street, Poland source

Jakub Niewdana , Konrad Mrowiec , Bartłomiej Kurowski 1cT – Technik Informatyk  Zespół Szkół Mechaniczno–Elekrtycznych w Żywcu.  Thanks for Attention