Fire Management and Preparedness in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Fire management and preparedness in the Czech Republic (CR) is evaluated based on a broad knowledge platform consisting of official documents of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic (FRS CR), laws of the CR, as well as scientific works from Czech universities and professional publications. The composition of the forests, mostly composed of coniferous tree species, has been conditioned by historical events and closely connects to the current health state of the Czech forests, which has been seriously affected by the bark beetle calamity. The most common types of forest fires in the CR are due to its geographical location surface fires. The main cause of fire ignition is human carelessness. The number of forest fires in the Czech Republic has an increasing tendency, however, the burnt area does not grow proportionally to the number of fires thanks to the high-quality technical equipment of the Czech firefighters and their timely response. The forest fire prevention strategy belongs to the competency of the state-owned enterprise Lesy of the Czech Republic which in cooperation with scientific institutions and universities focuses on optimizing collaboration with the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic; creation of methodologies and recommendations in the field of fire prevention; enlightenment and education of the public; and recovering the landscape capacity to maintain water. Due to changing climatic conditions, the fire regime in the CR will likely change and the current approach will need to be adjusted.