Wildfire preparedness: Optimal adaptation measures for strengthening road transport resilience

This paper addresses the growing need to shift wildfire management strategies from suppression to greater preparedness and adaptation in response to increasingly frequent and intense wildfire events. Traditional approaches prioritize suppression actions, but this study emphasizes the combined role of adaptation measures and suppression efforts in enhancing resilience to wildfires. While suppression tackles immediate threats, adaptation aims to reduce long-term vulnerabilities and enhance resilience to future wildfire risks. The European Union has made significant efforts to promote fire-resistant territories, but gaps persist in adaptation knowledge and preparedness.

To address this, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of a resilient-preparedness framework to analyze the systemic impact of adaptation measures. Subsequently, the framework is extended to identify the most cost-effective combination of measures to enhance system resilience. The methodology employs a genetic multi-objective algorithm to identify the most effective set of adaptation measures across various wildfire intensities and dimensions of resilience, including physical, operational, and social aspects. By integrating grey, green, and soft adaptation measures, the methodology contributes to understanding how to enhance the wildfire resilience of road networks. Overall, it serves as a decision-support tool to guide initiatives under the EU Green Deal and improve wildfire management strategies.