The economic aspect of establishing fire breaks along public roads and reducing the losses caused by forest fires

A bstract One of the most important forest management activities in fire protection is the establishment and maintenance of different types of fire belts depending on the threat, including the numerous belts along public roads. The role of fire belts is primarily to limit the possibility of fire spread and to facilitate firefighting by the emergency services. The article presents the results of an economic analysis of the maintenance of fire belts along public roads by the State Forests and clearing of the area of forest materials that pose a particular fire risk. The economic calculation of the establishment and maintenance of fire belts and clearing along public roads to reduce the damage caused by fires is based on analyses of the following: the occurrence of forest fires along public roads, damage caused by forest fires along public roads, the costs of establishing and maintaining type A belts and clearing along public roads. The analyses presented have shown that maintaining type A fire belts and 30-m-wide fire belts with cleared terrain in accordance with current regulations is not rational and justified. The current practice of creating these fire belts does not bring the expected effects in terms of a significant improvement in forest fire safety, which makes it necessary to reflect on their justification and adaptation to actual needs. The losses caused by fires along roads amounted to PLN 814 thousand, while the costs of carrying out these activities totalled PLN 35.84 million. If we compare the losses caused by fires along roads with the costs of establishing and maintaining fire belts and cleaning up, we can see that the losses are more than 40 times lower than the costs incurred, which raises serious doubts about the rationality of the activities carried out and their effective impact on increasing fire safety in forest areas.