147 - Wildfire Industrial Interface and risk assessment with Eulàlia Planas

Fire Science Show

In this episode, we explore wildfire's impact on industrial fire safety with Professor Eulàlia Planas from Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya. Eulalia defines the term Wildland Industrial Interface (WII), a realm where the forces of nature clash with safety and process engineering.
In the episode, we highlight that it is not just the exposure to the fire itself but also to the secondary effects - ember storms, firebrand accumulation, strong winds or power shutdowns that may cause significant damage. Also, even if the wildfires do not cause fires directly, they may damage auxiliary systems, creating unacceptable vulnerabilities in the plant. Finally, we discuss what is the challenge of shutting the plant down and evacuating it.
In the episode, we will present the differences to traditional risk assessments when confronted with wildfire behaviour and investigate scenarios in which even the most robust chemical plants can succumb to the fire.
Further reading includes:
- Fires at the wildland-industrial interface. Is there an emerging problem?
- Asset Integrity in the Case of Wildfires at Wildland-Industrial Interfaces
- Vulnerability of industrial storage tanks to wildfire: A case study
- Analysis of the impact of wildla

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