EURO 2024 Copenhagen
Abstract Submission

EURO-Online login

1484. The Wildfire Suppression Problem: coordination of the fire fighting resources

Invited abstract in session WA-52: Models and algorithms for real-life combinatorial optimization problems, stream Combinatorial Optimization.

Wednesday, 8:30-10:00
Room: 8003 (building: 202)

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Maria Battarra
2. Mualla Gonca Avci
Industrial Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University
3. Mustafa Avci
Industrial Engineering, Izmir Bakircay University
4. Gunes Erdogan
School of Management, University of Bath

Abstract

Wildfires are endangering forests, dwellings and the population. This
study was motivated by informative discussions with members of the wildfire directorate in a province of Turkey, Natural Resources Wales, the UK Forestry Commission, and Forestry England. We introduce, model, and solve a wildfire suppression problem that involves the coordination of various types of fire-suppression resources, as we realised the literature
models all types of fire fighting resources (i.e., fire engines, helicopters and razing teams) as generic resources, ignoring their different operational constraints and effects in extinguishing
or controlling the spread of a wildfire. Two integer programming formulations for the problem are presented, the performances of which are evaluated on a set of randomly generated problem instances. Realistic operational constraints about the different firefighting resources are embedded, and the fire spread is simulated depending on the wind conditions. Dwellings, infrastructures and areas of naturalistic beauty are prioritised for protection. The results indicate that the proposed formulations are able to solve instances of realistic size. The importance of the right mix of resources employed in tackling a wildfire as well as their coordination are highlighted. A case study inspired by the Yatagan district of the Mugla province of Turkiye has been developed, and
maps simulating the fire spread over time will be showcased.

Keywords

Status: accepted

Back to the list of papers