The influence of natural factors upon the frequency and the

intensity of forest fires in Suceava County

Ion Burlui
tefan cel Mare University
Suceava, Romania
ionburlui@yahoo.com

Abstract: The paper identifies the natural factors, which act in the forests of Suceava County, and
influence the risk of forest fire. In this respect, we performed a diagnosis in order to accurately determine the
direction and the way in which the risk of fire is influenced. The work is based on data collected at the level of
Suceava County. Thus, after a brief overview of the influence of natural factors upon the risk of forest fire, we
treat them differently, according to the moment of their appearance, and the manifestation of the continuous or
variable influence. The risk factors are presented and analyzed according to the physical size of the state
parameters registered at the level of the county, according to their consequences upon the risk of fire in the
mountain forests. Finally, the work examines the causal link between the action of the natural factors and the
risk of forest fire in terms of fire frequency and intensity.
Keywords: forest fires, continuous action natural factors, variable action natural factors, fire frequency,
fire intensity.

I. Introduction
The forest appears and exists, it is
perpetuated and gets destroyed in the presence
and under the influence of the natural factors.
Their action produces both positive and negative
effects upon the evolution of the forest. The
natural factors, which make their presence felt
upon the forests of Suceava, and influence, one
way or another the fire risk, belong to the
category of stationery factors:
- climatic: light, heat, humidity, air;
- edaphic: soil;
- orographic topography: altitude,
exposition, slope, the surface configuration.
These factors act individually, but they also
interconnect and influence each other, they
determine the structure and the magnitude,
leaving place for a global, complex and common
action,
amplifying
and
diversifying
the
cumulative, initial effect caused by one of them.
The existence and the manifestation of the
natural factors, as well as the consequences of
their presence on the forest vary in space and
time. The action of these factors can have a
continuous character, all year long, they can act
only seasonally or just occasionally and
conjecturally. Also, the presence and the
expression of these factors is different
throughout the 439.862 ha, the surface of the
forests from Suceava County. In turn, the forest
responds differently to the action of natural

factors, according to some parameters,

including: existence of the massive state, species
and age, type of natural or artificial regeneration
forest, management of the forest, action of the
human factor.

1.1
The
natural
continuous action

factors

with

They continuously influence the forest, all

year long or seasonally, with a constant
presence in time and space. The continuous
action natural factors have, in the same location
and under the same conditions, the same level
of influence on the fire risk throughout the year.
In this respect, determining the actual presence,
size and influence upon the fire risk, can help
taking early actions to prevent, ameliorate or
counteract their negative effects.
In order to assess the effects and the
influences on forest fire risk, the global action of
the natural factors should be discussed, because
they are interconnected, mutually determined
and they multiply their effects on the forest.
The following natural factors can be
considered continuous action risk factors:
climatic (light), edaphic (soil), orographic
(altitude,
exposition,
slope,
surface
configuration).
The light is considered to be one of the
essential elements, which represent the basis
and engine of life on earth. Therefore, the light

16

DOCT-US, an III, nr. 1, 2011

simply through its presence cannot be

regarded as a generator of the risk of fire in
forests, but rather through its presence, it
favours the process of photosynthesis, plant
growth and the perpetuation of the species. Its
presence can help us determine the influence of
the human risk fire. Thus, the human activity is
carried mainly in the presence of the natural
light. Even if some human activities can be
carried out at night, all these have to be
preceded by human presence in the forest
during daylight for the identification of the
location and the organization of the activity.
The soil is the place where the plant seeds
are disseminated and germinate, where the
trees are rooted, where they accumulate water
and nutrients. Thus, the soil contributes to the
influencing of the risk of fire, on the following
levels:
- the type, the variety and the development
level of the forest vegetation that covers it;
- the extent and the rate of decomposition of
the organic material, accumulated at its level;
- the structure, the composition and its
depth, with consequences on erosion, ruptures
and trees falling.
The altitude is the orographic factor which
differentiates the landforms among them.
According to its level, the altitude influences the
other natural factors too, which act upon the
forest, determining or influencing the risk of fire
in the following aspects:
- the accessibility and the diversity of
vegetation species is differentiated by the level
of the altitude;
- maintaining the massive state and the
strength of the forest decreases with the
increase of the altitude;
- the vegetation period of the species is
reduced with the increase in altitude;
- the air temperature variation is 0.6C at 100
m altitude;
- the wind speed and influence on forest
vegetation are greater at higher altitudes, with
consequences upon the tendency of tree drying
and breaking;
- the air pressure varies with the altitude.
Currently, the effects and the role of the
forest exhibit are less known outside the sphere
of professional people. But the exhibition plays a
major role in determining the type and the
character of the forestry vegetation in a given
resort. Its effects are more or less pronounced
depending on the intended relationship and the
other natural factors, including slope and
altitude. As an extension, in the same way the

risk of forest fire is also influenced in the

following aspects:
- determining the type and the variety of
forest species
- the differentiated melting of the snow leads
to a different period of vegetation;
- the wind power on the sunny slopes is
greater than on shadowed ones;
- on the sunny slopes the soil is often dryer
and more susceptible to erosion, favouring the
ruptures and the fallings.
- the higher solar radiation on sunny slopes
influences directly proportional the initiation and
the spread of the fire.
- the forest growth reaches, usually, the
natural upper limit on the southern slopes.
The influence of the slope on the forest is
closely correlated with other orographic factors.
Thus, the existence of high landforms often
requires the presence of steep slopes. The slope
of the terrain influences the existence of the
forest and also the risk of forest fire, in the
following aspects:
- the soil consistency and depth are in an
inverse correlation with the land slope;
- the surface runoff and the ground water are
directly determined by the size of the forest
slope land;
- the forest vigour decreases with the
increasing of the slope;
- the size of the slope determines the nature
of the intervention in case of fire.
The configuration of the land is an
orographic factor which can be identified and
which permanently leaves its mark on the forest,
therefore, on the fire risk. Thus, one can
distinguish the following factors:
- the crests, the lands, the ridges are affected
by the sun and the strong winds, draining the
soil, favouring the process of breaking or the
tree falling;
- the forest consistency and vigour are
reduced in the concave areas, as compared to
the convex ones.

1.2
action

Natural factors with variable

These factors do not continuously affect the

forest from the point of view of the fire risk, all
year long or seasonally, and dont have a
constant presence in time and space. The
natural factors with a variable action may have,
in the same location, different influences upon
the fire risk, in time. In this respect, we cannot
anticipate and determine their presence, size
and influence upon the fire risk. The prevention

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measures, mitigation or counteracting of the

negative effects are taken on the basis of risk
analysis and forecasts, probabilistic calculations
of the manifestation history in specific locations,
by analogy and extrapolation to similar situations
and locations. Due to the fact that their complex
action, their presence and manifestation cannot
be determined in time, for specific locations, the
consequences are more serious than in the case
of the natural factors with continuous action. We
can consider as natural factors with variable
action upon the risk of forest fire: the heat, the
humidity and the air.
The heat leaves a different print on the
forest over time and from station to station. The
influence of heat on the risk of forest fire
receives the following connotations:
- the existence of the heat determines the
type, variety and the strength of the forest
vegetation;
- the temperature regime may affect the
water regime from the soil or on its surface;
- the soil is directly influenced by the
temperature regime from the environment;
- the heat influences and it is influenced by
the presence and the size of the other natural
factors, leaving its mark differently from one
station to another;
- the ambient temperature directly determines
the amount of heat necessary to initiate a fire;
- the heat directly affects the presence of the
anthropogenic factor in the forest.
The humidity is, along with the air and the
light, a key factor for the existence of forest life.
Theoretically, it cannot be identified a
connection between the humidity regime and
the risk of forest fire, but, nevertheless, it exists.
Recent history shows that the rainfall in
Romania, and in Suceava County, in particular,
no longer complies with any rules of continuity
and regularity. Wide differences of humidity
from one year to another, for the same location
make its influence variable, influencing, under
the same aspect the risk of fire, too:
- a low degree of humidity leads to dry
vegetation, with consequences upon the plant
adustion;
- an abundant rainfall regime can favour the
landslides, with consequences upon the
breakings and the fallings.
- heavy snowfalls on the slopes and high
altitudes, favoured also by the exhibit of the
terrain, may form the basis of the avalanches
generating fallings and breakings.
-on less covered slopes, with surface soils,
the heavy rains can cause destruction of road

17

forests with implications upon the intervention

action, in case of fires.
The presence of the air is vital for the
existence of life. But there are situations when
the presence and manifestation of air currents
can damage forests, in general, with influences
upon the fire risk, in particular, as follows:
- the presence of noxious air in the
environment, above certain tolerable limits, may
affect the forest plants;
- the increasing in the intensity and the
duration of winds can determine ruptures and
tree fallings;
- very strong winds may result in decreased
soil and air humidity, with repercussions on the
process of absorption and transpiration of the
trees, of erosion;
- in winter, the trees loaded with snow are
easily broken or torn under the action of the
wind;
- the presence of the wind is a contributing
factor in the initiation, the development and the
distant propagation of forest fires.

II. Study material

2.1
Physical
recorded values

quantities

of

the

Due to the geographical position of the

Suceava County, its climate is temperate, with a
continental character. Due to the fact that the
landforms of the county are quite varied, with
altitudes ranging from approx. 225 m at
Dolhasca to 2101 m in the Climani Mountains, it
clearly stands out a climatic setting and a
detailed topoclimatic differentiation.
The temperature regime is characterized
by average values ranging from 8.0C in the
plateau area to 0.0C in high mountain areas.
Separately for the high mountain area, the
average annual temperature values for the
period 1961/ 2008, recorded at the weather
stations Raru and Climani [7], show
differences between the extremes: 18.66C/
Raru, respectively 15.64C/ Climani and also
the difference between the stations varies
between 1C for the minimum, and 4.02C for
the maximum, while the difference of altitude
between a massive and the other is 447 m (2100
m 1653 m), thus:
The currents of air: the air masses above
the county come from the west, north or east,
recording some changes caused primarily
because of the diversity of the landforms.

18

DOCT-US, an III, nr. 1, 2011

Table 1. Temperature regime.

The wind, predominantly manifests itself

differently, according to the area, thus:
- in the mountains, the dominant wind
direction is given by the orientation of the
landform;
- in Suceava plateau, the predominant wind
action is from north-west, and channels through
the valleys of Siret and Suceava.
Table 2. Monthly wind speed averages in Raru and
Climani (m/ sec) between 1961 and 2008.

At high altitudes, the air currents have higher

rates, they have higher frequencies and the
effects upon the forest are more significant.
Thus, from the records from the weather
stations Raru and Climani, during 1961/ 2008
[7], there have been calculated the following
monthly averages:
Table 2 also shows the influence of the
altitude upon the speed of the currents of the air
and also the differences recorded between the
monthly extremes for the same location and
different locations.
At the county level, the yearly wind average
frequencies, according to the dominant direction,
are:
- from north-west 28.6%
- from west 24.5%
- from south-west 12.12%
- from north 10.5%.
The rainfall had a very uneven pace and
variation in time and space. Thus, in the high
mountain forest, there were significant
differences of precipitation for the same period
of the year, which entailed the nature and the
variable influence of the rainfall regime upon the
forest.

Figure 1. Monthly average speed of the wind in Climani and Raru.

From the multiannual records from the

weather forests Climani and Raru [7], the
monthly averages (maximum and minimum)
were calculated
The annual average amount of precipitation
ranges between 550 mm and 940 mm,
depending on the height of the landform.

Table 3 Monthly average amount of precipitation

(litres/ m2).

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19

III. The results of the research

In the detection and the analysis of the
consequences, one must start from the
triggering elements of a fire the combustible
material, the air and the ignition source which,
through a simultaneous presence and action in
space and time may cause fire ignition. In this
respect, one must analyze the effects of the
natural factors upon the proximity of the three
most favourable limits to the initiation of the fire.
Thus:
The reduction of the humidity degree of
the combustible material favours the closeness
to the limit of volatilization of flammable
substances in wood.
The increase of the outside temperature
causes a lower thermal contribution of the
ignition source and a more reduced contact
time.
A strong wind favours a more violent fire
development.
Poor accessibility in the forest increases
the duration and the difficulty of the intervention
actions needed to extinguish a fire.
The existence of water supply in the forest
leads to the reduction of the intervention time
needed to extinguish a fire.
Analysed punctually, the natural factors
through their action, produce the following
consequences upon the influence of forest fire:
- light, through its continuous presence, has
an overwhelming influence on the risk of forest
fire in Suceava county, by determining the
intensity of the anthropogenic activities. Thus,
from the analysis of the fires in the period 1990
2009 that 61% of them were initiated in the
hours 06.00 18.00 [9], so during the day.

Figure 3. The analysis of forest fire occurrence.

This aspect comes to emphasize the role of
the natural light in influencing the risk of fire in
the forests of Suceava County.
- heat influences the risk of fire upon the
forest,
but
not
through
the
average
temperatures,
but
through
extreme
temperatures. This extreme temperature regime,
in conjunction with the duration of time in which
it acts, directly influence the other natural
factors: the humidity, the soil and it has different
meanings in the forest resorts according to
altitude,
exposition,
slope
and
surface
configuration. The maximum monthly average
temperatures at the same mountain stations
show the existence of a high level of monthly
temperature throughout the year, which can
create premises for the initiation and
development of fire. The difference of altitude
differentiates the thermal regime on the two
mountains.

Figure 4. Maximum and minimum monthly

temperatures in Raru and Climani.

Figure 2. The analysis of fire on time slots.

Besides, from the analysis of the causes of
fire, the anthropogenic causes are the majority
95%.

The high temperatures, for a longer period of

time lead to poor rainfall, drought, with major
influences upon the soil drying and thereby upon
the drying plants. Thus, the vegetation is easier
to ignite than live vegetation, rich and vigorous.
Also, a dry soil and with surface vegetation is
prone to erosion, with repercussions in ruptures
and tree fallings, which thus become an easy
prey to the drying and then burning.

20

DOCT-US, an III, nr. 1, 2011

Rdui

Suceava

Flticeni

T rend Rdui

T rend Suceava

T rend Flticeni

1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5

03-07

01-05

99-03

97-01

95-99

93-97

91-95

89-93

87-91

85-89

83-87

81-85

79-83

77-81

75-79

73-77

71-75

69-73

67-71

65-69

63-67

61-65

-6

Figure 5. Average annual temperatures (1961 - 2007).

From the analysis of the recorded data in
time, there is a real tendency in increasing the
average annual temperatures [7].
Analyzing the evolution of fires in the period
1990-2009 [9], it results that in the years with
extremely high temperatures, the number of
fires was higher.
Not the same evolution of the fires is to be
encountered at a national level. [8]. As long as
the forest surface is not identical, the stationery
conditions are not the same for all the counties,
the manifestation of the natural factors upon the
forest was not the same and the number of
forest fires is variable from county to county.
The global situation of the number of fires, at
the national level, for the period 2003-2009
locates the Suceava County, according to the
number of fires, on a top position from this
point of view. This position is also influenced by
the size of the forest surface of the county, by

the composition of the forest, predominantly

coniferous. Graphically, the situation is
presented in this way:
- humidity, besides the favourable meanings
which it has upon the forest vegetation, when it
exists within normal limits, but it also has
significant negative influences, when it occurs
outside these limits. The annual amount of
precipitation decreases gradually from the west
to the east [7] on the sense of diminishing: 1200
mm /m2 Climani, 550 600 mm/ m in the
Valley of Siret River. The small amounts of
rainfall recorded in February and the richest in
May to July (average 45% of annual rainfall) [7].
The manifestation of the rainfall regime outside
these limits, considered normal for this region,
also leads to unfavourable influences upon the
forest, including the variation determination of
fire risk.

Figure 6. Number of forest fires (1990-2009).

Thus, low rainfall leads to drought conditions,
susceptible to easy ignition of combustible
material. On a deficit of rainfall 40%

compared to average volume of drying

processes that will be recorded next year will be
2.6 times higher than in an average year. [1]. A

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rainfall regime above the normal range may lead

to inability to retain in the soil of the forest
quantities of water, creating the preconditions
for the production of land slide, with
consequences upon the tree fallings.
The torrents formed on the slopes can
damage the road forests, with implications on
the intervention operations in case of fires. In
professional literature it is considered that the

21

forestation of minimum 50% from the drainage

area of a stream of water can sustain the
eventual uncontrolled effects of the severe
weather phenomena (heavy rain, orange
phenomena, and landslides), [2]. In addition to
rain and snow, it can cause significant forest
losses as the snow fallen in April 1977 caused
ruptures and fallings that affected 35% of the
forest of Suceava County [3].

Figure 7. Number of forest fires in Romanian counties (2003/ 2009).

The measurements of the meteorological
station Raru [7] show that for April 1977, an
average rainfall of 179.8 litres per square meter,
of which 81.7 litres/ m2/ 24 hours fallen on 17th
April. These effects were seen in time by
bringing diseases and pests in the destroyed
forest.
- the air: The months with the poorest air
currents are November and December, and the
period with the strongest winds is March [7].
This is reflected in the number of fires recorded
in the period under review [9]:

Figure 8. Monthly statistics of forest fires (1990/

2009.

At the national level, the distribution of fires

per month follows in a way, the same evolution
as the one on the county [8], thus:

Figure 9. Monthly national occurrence of fires (2003-2009).

22

DOCT-US, an III, nr. 1, 2011

In the mountain area, the maximum wind

speed can exceed 40 m/ sec (Climani June/
2002, direction SW) [7]. Thus, since 2002, in
June August, strong storms occurred, with a
tornado aspect, both in the mountain area and
in the East part of the Suceava County, with
atypical symptoms for this area, combined with
massive and violent falls. All these have led a
complex of phenomena upon the forest, among
which: landslides, ruptures and tree fallings, the
obstruction of the mountain streams (Ulma
case), the breaking of the power lines in the
forest, massive damage of the forest roads. For
example, on 6th March 2002, a storm in the
mountain area Frasin, Vama, Cmpulung
Moldovenesc, Vatra Dornei caused 1.500.000 m3
of ruptures and tree fallings. [6].
Comparing Figures 8 and 10, we can notice
that the period (2003 and 2004) with falling
massive exploitation coincides with the year
2003, with the highest number of fires.
- the soil is the foundation of the forest
vegetation, but it is also the thing which
endangers its stability if it is itself affected by the
action of other disturbing factors. The soil of the
Suceava forests is defined by the dominant
terrain, on which they vegetate the mountain.
In these circumstances, the action of the
extreme maximum temperatures, of the strong
winds combined with the lack of rain may have
consequences upon the strength of the plants
leading to their drying, and from there, to
creating optimal conditions for starting fires is
only a matter of time. On the other hand,
excessive rainfall fallen on the slopes without
forests favours the process of land sliding.
- the altitude may lead to changes of the
fire risks both individually by reducing the air
temperature along with the raise in height, but
also with the exposition and the slope. Its
effects are continuous and generally invariable.
- the exposition plays a major role in the
development of the mountain vegetation and
can influence the risk of forest fire through the
quantity of natural heat received.
- If these mountains benefit also from steep
slopes, than the unfavourable effects upon the
vegetation of the forest and the risk of fire can
be exponentially multiplied.
- the surface configuration is the one
which can encompass all the other orographic
elements and can determine the stationery
conditions of the forest vegetation. As shown
before, in a live, vigorous forest, the risk of fire
is reduced, as compared to a rare, sick and dry
forest.

Figure 10. Volume exploited accidental products.

The natural factors (altitude, slope,
exposition, soil, air currents) act as a whole,
interdependently,
resulting
in
stationary
conditions, with more or less beneficial
implications on the forest vegetation with an
extension upon the risk of forest fire. Thus,
according to the values of the above
parameters, the forest can be the subject to
drying processes. The explanation is probably in
the reduced capacity of soils to store water
during the dry periods and in the exposure to
prevailing winds of such stands [1].

IV. Conclusions
The natural factors contribute to the initiation
and the spread of the fires in various ways and
proportions, but their effects are intertwined
resulting in complex, common and united
manifestation.
Analysed
punctually
and
separately, each contributes differently to the
risk of fire, influencing the fire frequency and
intensity.

4.1
The causality relation upon the
frequency of fires
Analysed for the same location, with respect
to their action, these factors favour the
occurrence of fires in a unit of time, encouraging
the conditions for the state and time parameters
development, which determine the inevitable
onset of ignition. Among the natural factors that
modify the frequency of the fire risk in the
forests, there are:
The light influences the frequency of fires,
as evidenced by the statistics of the forest fires,
in that it directly affects the human activities in
the forest (Table 2.)
The heat determines the influencing of the
frequency of fires throughout the years and on
seasons. It dries the soil and the vegetation by
evaporating water and excessive sweat and
causes, during the periods of extremely high
temperatures, the release of the volatile
essences found in the organic matter, which

tiine inginereti

gives raise to the initiation and the spread of the

fire. This implies a lower contribution of the heat
to the source of ignition. Experiences show that,
at low temperatures, the combustion is
conducted with great difficulty, for example, in
Polar Regions it is not possible to light matches
outside. [4]
the humidity affects fire frequency and
intensity. Thus, excessive humidity reduces the
conditions to initiate the reaction, the oxidation
and the burning rate. However, high dryness
increases them substantially. Table 4 shows the
fire propagation speed, according to the
humidity degree:
Table 4 [5]. Fire propagation speed, depending on
the humidity degree.

Ignited
combustible
materials
Planks of wood (2 4 cm thick) in stack:
-

at
at
at
at
at

a
a
a
a
a

humidity
humidity
humidity
humidity
humidity

content
content
content
content
content

of
of
of
of
of

8 12%
16 18%
18 20%
20 30%
30%

Average
propagation
velocity
[m min-1]
4.00
2.30
1.60
1.20
1.00

As it can be seen in Table 4, in the case of

the wooden material from the same category,
for humidity between 8 30 %, the average
propagation speed of the fire varies inversely
proportional between 4 1 m/min, and thus the
influence upon the intensity of fires will be in the
same.
The soil participates in influencing the
frequency of fires, indirectly, in the sense that it,
according to its particularities, determines the
type and the vigour of the forest vegetation.
Either a live vegetation, strong, vigorous is less
exposed to the risk of fire than the dry
vegetation, sick, based on herbs and small
shrubs and dried fallings.
The altitude influences the temperature,
the atmospheric pressure and hence the
frequency of forest fires according to the causes
that generated them. On the high mountains
there are also fires caused by the lightening.
The exposition has an influence on the
forest through the quantity of light and heat that
flows over it. In the same way, the frequency of
fires is influenced through the listed parameters.

4.2 The causality

intensity of fires

report

on

the

The intensity of burning and the fire spread

depend on: - the chemical composition and the
burning rate of the combustible material; - the
ambient temperature; - the currents of the air; -

23

the amount of combustible material; - the

intensity of the potential source of ignition; - the
configuration of the terrain and the place in
which the burning occurs; - the natural or the
artificial obstacles encountered on their way.
Among the natural factors that modify the risk of
forest fire, by influencing the fire intensity, the
following can be considered:
The heat can be considered a product of
combustion. At a normal temperature (20C),
the majority of combustible substances slowly
oxide; the increase in temperature brings about
increases in the speed of oxidation/ burning (at
a temperature rise of 10C, the oxidation rate
increases 2-3 times). Table 5 presents the
variation of burning speed reported to the mass
and the temperature of the fire.
Table 5 [5]. Burning speed and fire mass and
temperature.

The increase of the burning rate and the

burnt surface favours the heat release and the
rise of the temperature in the environment.
Thus, the air exchange is done rapidly, the hot
air and the lighter combustion products raise in
height, leaving room for the cold air, richer in
oxygen. In these circumstances, it is possible
that, among the products of combustion raised
highly and carried by the wind, burning
combustible
materials
encounter
other
combustible materials, thus provoking their
burning far away from the initial fire outbreak
and causing fire spread and intensification. At a
maximum spread of the fire, the burning
expands initially upon the entire surface and
then in the mass of the combustible materials.
The air is part of the natural factors with
major influence on the fire intensity. Beyond the
fact that in the absence of oxygen in the air, a
combustion cannot occur, but in the case of
exterior fires, the currents of air exert a greater
influence upon the fire burning rate. For the
combustion of the forest vegetation, the oxygen
is taken from the air and the forest is a source of
oxygen.
In conclusion, the air influences the intensity
of the fires, since it dries the vegetation, which
is about to be burnt, by increasing the amount
of fresh air in the burning zone, and by
spreading the flames in height and depth, under
the force of the winds. The variation of the

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DOCT-US, an III, nr. 1, 2011

Average propagation
velocity [m min-1]
400.00 500.00

The contribution of each natural factor to the

frequency and the intensity of forest fires is
different according to the location, the time, but
the most important is the interdependence of
these individual effects and the determination of
the multiple effects, which result in a common,
uniform and of a high amplitude action.

22.00

Table 7 [5].

spread of the fires according to the currents of

air is shown in the table below:
Table 6 [5]. The variation of the fire spread
according to air currents.
Ignited combustible materials
The fire of the dry grass and
the strong wind
Complex
of
forests
with
medium plantations at the
speeds of wind of 7 19 m s-1
i a relative humidity of the air,
during the day of 39%

The altitude influences the fire intensity

indirectly through the influence it has upon the
atmospheric pressure, thus when climbing high,
there is a low atmospheric pressure, which
determines a less amount of oxygen, thus
decreasing the burning rate. Diametrically
opposed, the decrease in altitude determines an
increase of the atmospheric pressure, so an
increased intake of air with consequences on the
acceleration of the burning rate. Moreover, the
atmospheric pressure is influenced by the air
temperature and the weather conditions. The air
temperature decreases with the altitude by
6.4C per 1000 m [5].
The exposition influences indirectly the
intensity of fires. Thus, the sunnier slopes are
prone to the currents of air, favouring the
increase in the intensity of fires.
The slope has an indirect action on the
modification of the fire intensity. A fire initiated
at the basis of a mountain provokes rising air
currents, which in their movement involve
burning pieces of combustible material. Or if
these rising currents brush in their motion, the
steep slopes, then the spread of the fire is done
in a short time, on the entire slope.
The terrain configuration determines the
stationery conditions and also the type, the
variety and the strength of the forest vegetation,
which occupies that location. The density of the
local thermal load and also depends upon it. The
fire intensity is influenced by the combustibility
index of the forest tree.

Ignited
combustible
materials
Fir forest spruce and fir
Pine forests, firs, bushes
Spruce forests
Wood storage in stacks

Average
propagation
velocity [m min-1]
Up to 4.20
Up to 14.20
Up to 18.00
0.35 0.7

References
[1] Dr. ing. Ion Barbu, Staiunea Experimental

de
Cultura
Molidului,
Cmpulung
Moldovenesc, Influena factorilor staionali

asupra intensitii uscrilor n pdurile cu

brad din O.s. Solca.

[2] Elena Chiri, Defririle, blestemul care

[3]
[4]

[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]

aduce inundaii i ari, Romnia liber,

publicat la 03 Iul 2006.
I. Florescu, N. Nicolescu, Silvicultura, vol. I
Studiul Pdurii.
Col. ing. Pompiliu Balulescu, ing. Vasile
Calinescu, ing. Corneliu Iorgulescu si ing.
Valeriu Macris, Noiuni de fizic i chimie
pentru pompieri, Comandamentul Pompierilor
Bucuresti 1971.
P. Blulescu, Stingerea incendiilor, Ed.
Tehnic, Bucureti, 1981.
Direcia Silvic Suceava, Date statistice din
arhiva proprie.
Centrul Meteorologic Moldova, Iai, Date
statistice din arhiva proprie.
Inspectoratul General pentru Situaii de
Urgen, Date statistice din arhiva proprie.
Inspectoratul pentru Situaii de Urgen
Bucovina al judeului Suceava, Date
statistice din arhiva proprie.

Ion Burlui
PhD student, tefan cel Mare University of Suceava,
Faculty of Forestry, PhD domain: Forestry, PhD
supervisor: prof. Radu Cenu, PhD.