Report on LPG infrastructure impact at the WUI microscale

Preprin

Evaluating wildfire vulnerability of Mediterranean dwellings using fuzzy logic applied to expert judgement

Background. Wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires pose great challenges to firefighting services and there is a growing need for self-protection and the creation of fire-adapted communities. Aim. A tool that can aid homeowners and residents of the Mediterranean WUI was created so that they can identify vulnerabilities present on their properties and consequently reduce them in order to reduce the risk of fires igniting dwellings. Methods. This Vulnerability Assessment Tool is based on a fault tree analysis that includes possible structural vulnerabilities as well as the different ways a fire could spread on a property to finally enter and ignite a dwelling. The probabilities of the different events are obtained from fuzzy preferences of WUI experts. Key results. Our system was tested against real-world data taken from two WUI fires that occurred in 2021 and 2022 in Spain in which several dwellings were affected, with different degrees of damage (minor to major losses). Conclusions. The tool is able to show the vulnerabilities of the properties and to account for differences in building characteristics and vegetation management at the parcel scale. Implications. A planned use of this tool would be key to improving fire resilience at the community level.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Using fuzzy logic to evaluate fire vulnerability of dwellings located at the wildland-urban interface

WUI fires are posing great challenges to firefighting services, which are overwhelmed by the need to not only suppress the fire, but also protect the community. The need for self-protection is therefore growing, as is the need for the creation of fire-adapted communities. A tool that can aid homeowners and residents of the WUI is therefore created, so that they can identify the vulnerabilities present on their properties and consequently reduce them in order to diminish the risk of damage due to a wildfire. This Vulnerability Assessment Tool is based on a fault tree analysis that includes possible structural vulnerabilities as well as the different ways a fire could spread on a property to finally enter and damage the building. The identification of the probabilities of the different events in the fault tree is obtained through the use of fuzzy logic, for which inputs, outputs and rules are identified. A questionnaire targeted to homeowners and based on the fault tree and linked to the probability identified with fuzzy logic is then developed. By filling in this questionnaire, homeowners at the WUI will be able to know what the probability of a fire entering their house is. The result of the questionnaire also indicates which are the issues on the property that need to be addressed in order to lower this probability. Finally, the tool is validated with a case study of several houses affected by a fire in Spain.Postprint (published version

Methodology for the analysis of structural vulnerability of WUI settlements

As WUI fires have become a global concern, there is a growing need for engineering methodologies that lead to proactive fire management not only at the landscape level, but at all WUI scales. This paper presents a quantitative methodology for structural vulnerability assessment at the WUI settlement level that is based on 10 indicators, established for the different fire exposure phases a WUI area experiences (pre-impact, impact and fire transfer) as well as on other factors that can escalate vulnerability. As output, a Structural Vulnerability Index (SVI) for the entire analyzed area can be obtained. The methodology can not only assess vulnerability of WUI settlements in a quantitative way, but it can also quantify the effect of measures employed for the reduction of this vulnerability. Additionally, the methodology is suitable for comparison between different settlements or neighborhoods of the same area. A case study for the city of Barcelona, Spain, is presented, in which 9 WUI neighborhoods are analyzed and vulnerability reduction measures are prioritized.This research is funded by the Barcelona City Council and “La Caixa” Foundation (project WUICOM-BCN, 21S09274-001), the project PID2020-114766RB-100 of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the project TED2021-130484B-100, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR. The authors also want to thank Bombers de Barcelona, the Consortium of the Natural Park of Collserola for their help in data gathering and the Pau Costa Foundation. A. Águeda is a Serra-Húnter fellow.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Fire performance of residential shipping containers designed with a shaft wall system

seven story building made of shipping containers is planned to be built in Barcelona, Spain. This study mainly aimed to evaluate the fire performance of one of these residential shipping containers whose walls and ceiling will have a shaft wall system installed. The default assembly consisted of three fire resistant gypsum boards for vertical panels and a mineral wool layer within the framing system. This work aimed to assess if system variants (e.g. less gypsum boards, no mineral wool layer) could still be adequate considering fire resistance purposes. To determine if steel temperatures would attain a predetermined temperature of 300-350ºC (a temperature value above which mechanical properties of steel start to change significantly) the temperature evolution within the shaft wall system and the corrugated steel profile of the container was analysed under different fire conditions. Diamonds simulator (v. 2020; Buildsoft) was used to perform the heat transfer analysis from the inside surface of the container (where the fire source was present) and within the shaft wall and the corrugated profile. To do so gas temperatures near the walls and the ceiling were required, so these temperatures were obtained from two sources: (1) The standard fire curve ISO834; (2) CFD simulations performed using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Post-flashover fire scenarios were modelled in FDS taking into account the type of fuel present in residential buildings according to international standards. The results obtained indicate that temperatures lower than 350ºC were attained on the ribbed steel sheet under all the tested heat exposure conditions. When changing the assembly by removing the mineral wool layer, fire resistance was found to still be adequate. Therefore, under the tested conditions, the structural response of the containers would comply with fire protection standards, even in the case where insulation was reduced.Postprint (published version

Fires at the wildland-industrial interface. Is there an emerging problem?

Over the past years, wildfires have raged with unprecedented intensity across the world, becoming a growing problem, as weather conditions conductive to wildfire ignition and spread will increase in frequency and severity worldwide. This, coupled with a growing human expansion, leads to an increase in wildfire risk and in the threat to wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities. Commonly, definitions for WUI areas consider homes, commercial facilities, office and public buildings. This excludes industrial installations, where wildfires can trigger accidents or cascading events leading to extremely dangerous situations for the population causing enormous economic losses. In this paper, the problem associated to the wildland-industrial interface (WII) is analyzed. A methodology to obtain a global WII map is described, and the first WII maps for Europe and Asia are provided. Results show that, in Europe, 2.5% of the land and 6% of vegetated areas are WII, while in Asia these are respectively 0.24% and 0.5%. An analysis of how wildfire triggered industrial accidents can be considered when performing quantitative risk assessments (QRA) in industrial sites is also performed, identifying the current state of the art and research gaps, with the aim of helping industry, public authorities and policy makers, for better accident prevention, preparedness and response.This research is funded by the project PID2020-114766RB-100 of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the project 2021_SGR_00251 of Generalitat de Catalunya. A. Àgueda is a Serra Hunter fellow.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Vulnerability analysis to wildland- urban interface fires in metropolitan areas: an integrated approach

Wildfires pose a growing threat to populated areas around the world and especially in the Mediterranean Basin. Numerous Mediterranean cities have typically developed neighbourhoods that expand into forest land in which basic aspects for an efficient WUI fire management have not been considered. In this paper, we present a holistic approach to analyse threats to metropolitan areas due to WUI fires, accounting for infrastructural, societal and ecosystems vulnerability at settlement scale. Based on design fires and the key parameters responsible of fire impact and percolation through communities of most probable WUI fire events, we define key indicators to describe how vulnerable structures are in WUI metropolitan areas. Following, urban and societal indicators are selected to account for population’s vulnerability and, finally, ecosystems potential losses are accounted by ecosystem vulnerability indicators such as ecosystem sensitivity and adaptability. We have implemented this methodology to analyse vulnerability in Barcelona WUI areas and identified those that can be more threatened in case of wildfire. Results of this study will be key to inform risk-reduction public policies, as they provide particular insights on those WUI areas within Barcelona municipality that should be prioritized along with the specific issues that should be tackled.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS): the scientific goals of a shallow and wide submillimeter imaging survey with SPIRE

A large sub-mm survey with Herschel will enable many exciting science opportunities, especially in an era of wide-field optical and radio surveys and high resolution cosmic microwave background experiments. The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS), will lead to imaging data over 4000 sq. degrees at 250, 350, and 500 micron. Major Goals of HSLS are: (a) produce a catalog of 2.5 to 3 million galaxies down to 26, 27 and 33 mJy (50% completeness; 5 sigma confusion noise) at 250, 350 and 500 micron, respectively, in the southern hemisphere (3000 sq. degrees) and in an equatorial strip (1000 sq. degrees), areas which have extensive multi-wavelength coverage and are easily accessible from ALMA. Two thirds of the of the sources are expected to be at z > 1, one third at z > 2 and about a 1000 at z > 5. (b) Remove point source confusion in secondary anisotropy studies with Planck and ground-based CMB data. (c) Find at least 1200 strongly lensed bright sub-mm sources leading to a 2% test of general relativity. (d) Identify 200 proto-cluster regions at z of 2 and perform an unbiased study of the environmental dependence of star formation. (e) Perform an unbiased survey for star formation and dust at high Galactic latitude and make a census of debris disks and dust around AGB stars and white dwarfs

WUI fire risk mitigation in Europe: A performance-based design approach at home-owner level

Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) are becoming increasingly hazardous for life safety and property protection. Guidelines and standards for fire practitioners are needed in order to help WUI communities face this threat and become fire-adapted. A performance-based design approach (PBD) is proposed to deal with the complex issues present at the WUI homeowner scale, which entails the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools such as FDS in order to identify vulnerabilities in a quantitative manner. An analysis of recent European WUI fires is presented, along with the definition of several pattern scenarios that can be derived from these. Based on this analysis, examples of PBD fire scenarios specific for the Mediterranean WUI microscale are presented, involving glazing systems, roofing and gutters, external structures adjacent to the main building, and gaps present in the building envelope. A worked example to show the implementation of the proposed PBD method is provided in which the fire impact of residential fuel on a glazing system is quantitatively analysed.Award-winningPostprint (author's final draft

Useful applications of growth factors for cardiovascular regenerative medicine

Novel advances for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) include regenerative approaches for fibrosis, hypertrophy, and neoangiogenesis. Studies indicate that growth factor (GF) signaling could promote heart repair since most of the evidence is derived from preclinical models. Observational studies have evaluated GF serum/plasma levels as feasible biomarkers for risk stratification of CVDs. Noteworthy, two clinical interventional published studies showed that the administration of growth factors (GFs) induced beneficial effect on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), myocardial perfusion, end-systolic volume index (ESVI). To date, large scale ongoing studies are in Phase I-II and mostly focussed on intramyocardial (IM), intracoronary (IC) or intravenous (IV) administration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) which result in the most investigated GFs in the last 10 years. Future data of ongoing randomized controlled studies will be crucial in understanding whether GF-based protocols could be in a concrete way effective in the clinical setting