Spatial distribution of human-caused forest fires in Galicia (NW Spain)

Abstract

It is crucial for fire prevention policies to assess the spatial patterns of human-started fires and their relationship with geographical and socioeconomic aspects. This study uses fire reports for the period 1988-2006 in Galicia, Spain, to analyze the spatial distribution of human-induced fire risk attending to causes and underlying motivations associated with fire ignitions. Our results show that there are four distinctive types of municipalities in this region according to the incidence of intentional agricultural-livestock fires, pyromaniacal behavior, negligence, and unknown causes. They highlight that study of the spatial properties of the human causes and motivations of forest fire activity can provide valuable information for detecting the presence of non-random clusters of fires of various causes in particular locations, where fire management planning should be evaluated more in depth.