The creation and maintenance of wildfire control measures in areas of woodland, heathland, moorland and grassland are necessary to minimise the losses caused by wildfire incidents, to prevent or reduce the spread of fire to other areas and to facilitate the fire suppression work of responders. Such measures keep wildfires small and increase the success of suppressing larger wildfires. However, in the UK, the scientific basis for these measures is very poor. To redress this deficiency, fundamental analysis of the status and capability of fire/fuel breaks and fire belts was undertaken in England and Wales. Data from surveys of the width of breaks and belts at 55 sites were analysed using a fuel model to provide data on the length of flames based on an extreme but realistic climatic scenario. The analyses were carried out for four different fire examples: (1) fire occurring near roads (fuel breaks), (2) fire occurring near tracks and paths (fuel breaks), (3) fire that occurs in adjacent vegetation including fire/fuel breaks but not fire belts, and (4) fire that occurs in adjacent vegetation and fire belt, and includes fire/fuel breaks. The analysis of fire behaviour considered the use of hand tools, and vehicle−mounted high pressure/low volume water pumps, to suppress fires. The average height and/or fuel model of the vegetation was also taken into account. Of the 55 fire and/or fuel breaks studied, 18 were not sufficient to provide effective passive or active containment of wildfires. From the modelling approach used, the management of fuel loading of vegetation adjacent to fire and/or fuel breaks is a critical factor in the effective of these prevention measures. The study identified minimum widths of fire/fuel breaks and fire belts for a range of habitat types, to allow safe and effective fire suppression.

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