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

Abstract

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.