Optimal Spatial Allocation of Initial Attack Resources for Firefighting in the Republic of Korea Using a Scenario Optimization Model

This study explores the optimal spatial allocation of initial attack resources for firefighting in the Republic of Korea. To improve the effectiveness of Korean initial attack resources with a range of policy goals, we create a scenario optimization model that minimizes the expected number of fires not receiving a predefined response. In this study, the predefined response indicates the number of firefighting resources that must arrive at a fire before the fire escapes and becomes a large fire. We use spatially explicit GIS-based information on the ecology, fire behavior, and economic characterizations important in Korea. The data include historical fire events in the Republic of Korea from 1991 to 2007, suppression costs, and spatial information on forest fire extent. Interviews with forest managers inform the range of objective functions and policy goals we address in the decision model. Based on the geographic data, we conduct a sensitivity analysis by varying the parameters systematically. Information on the relative importance of the components of the settings helps us to identify "rules of thumb" for initial attack resource allocations in particular ecological and policy settings.