Andy Elliott slowly climbs the hills through the dark expanses of heathland in the Dorset countryside. He and a crew of firefighters put out wildfires the previous week.
Scorched branches grow from the soil like antler made of coal.
"The fire situation across the UK is very unusual, especially in the South East of England," Mr Elliott said. "We use the word extreme."
Firefighters and wildfire researchers at the University of Exeter say that while the UK has historically had many small wildfires, it is now are getting bigger and more intense, threatening lives and homes.
Elliott leans over to place the soil moisture meter on the ground and reaches into the bushes to collect the crispy leaves and thorns and puts them in a bag. These samples are taken to a university laboratory where they are ignited under controlled conditions to determine how flammable they are and how they can start a fire.
This is part of a project involving universities and researchers across the UK to adapt a national bushfire risk rating system based onthe Canadian bushfire risk rating system.
See | How a Canadian-made system is helping British wildfire researchers: Amid record-breaking temperatures and devastating fires this summer, British researchers have used a national Canadian model-based wildfire risk rating system. Canadian scientists hope the research will also help improve the country's decades-old system.
The UK team hopes to create a single system
We don't have an official rating system," Elliott said.
"It's very ad hoc. It's the responsibility of the local fire and rescue service to send the safety message, and the local government sends the safety message, but there's no real coordination.
Elliott and his team working across the country have adopted the Canadian system to provide a single source of high-quality information that fire officials use to plan and to warn citizens. We want to change this situation by creating as one source.
The UK has such a diverse ecosystem that teams from different disciplines had to split up to do the field work.
"Fuel varies across the UK. We are aware that it varies with latitude," Elliott said.
"So we're looking at and measuring everything at the moment, so we can provide a system that will be open to the public in the hope that it will be used in a corresponding emergency situation. Service." 148}
Canada's model
For nearly a century, Canadian researchers and public officials have used a variety of scales and scales to predict forest fire hazards. has been developed. However, it was in 1968 that Canada first established the national Canadian Forest Fire Hazard Rating System.
Mike Wotton, a research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service and professor of forestry at the University of Toronto, is one of several Canadians helping British researchers modify their models. is.
"This is used daily across Canada, regardless of fire season, to keep fire managers aware of forest conditions. It's a common tool that's being used. Basically, it can start a fire."
This model captures a number of metrics to predict fire hazards and shares them with fire and emergency authorities.
"The dryness of the forest fuel, how fast the fire spreads, the expected intensity and size of the flame if it were to occur, etc.," Wotton said. 71}
Canadians may be used to the end of public information on the front of the system. Anyone driving into a forested area will have seen a large sign with an arrow pointing to the current fire danger level.
The UK is not the first country to study the Canadian model and create its own early warning system, according to Wotton, and it is well known worldwide.
"We have worked very extensively with New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia. We are now working very closely with Switzerland to help them adapt their systems.
UK research specializing in fire hazard systems could also benefit Canadian researchers - especially the topography and vegetation of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador shrubs Some research done by Elliot in Heathland, which resembles Earth.
``Fire management agencies are working to predict fires. We hope to take some of it and apply it to some fuel types that we have not been able to do...or our own experimental combustion or research."
have seen an opportunity to revamp a relatively unchanged Canadian system over the past 50 years.
"Upgrading to incorporate new things we know about fire science and build a more flexible system has been long overdue," he said.
"I hope that seeing this group doing well in the UK will give us an idea of where we could implement this system here in Canada."
Wotton said he admired the way the British team was adapting the system and was impressed with the robust nature of their testing and fieldwork. In addition to doing academic science, we are working with field partners who are fire managers to burn open fields across the country.We can build the right tools to help first responders.
Nature's Speed
You can' come at once.
"These landscapes are things I have lived and absolutely loved all my life growing up. Seeing them destroyed by fire is , it's just heartbreaking," Elliot said. "We are taking comfort in the fact that we are studying it and are making progress." A year of research and data collection is required, he says.
View |London house destroyed by wildfire: Wildfire destroys London Residents of the suburban village of Wennington were forced to evacuate as their property was destroyed.
However, given July's record-breaking temperature, exceeded 40 degrees for the first time in the country's history. Although it was later destroyed in a wildfire, Elliot believes the system will be an important tool.
"The speed of change may have surprised some of us, especially in recent events, but we are on the right track and the Fire Hazard Rating System It really helps me understand."