5. Conclusions

FAA is a discipline that uses information collection and retains it as knowledge to provide guidance and direction to assist decision-makers on strategical, tactical and operational fire management. This discipline is exercised in organisations, by increasing skills of its members or by specific profiles in the structure, depending on the specific challenges faced.

In front of large vegetation fires out of capacity of extinction, fire analysts in planning and coordination are key to focus efforts on anticipated opportunities. In front of fast changing scenarios, fire analysts in the ground are needed to bridge the gap between changes and decisions, monitor indicators of change, and quickly adapt decisions to new realities. As the fire scenarios become more unpredictable and uncertain, fire analysts are key to provide robustness in the decision-making. All that implies being part of the decision-making and assuming responsibilities in it.

In order to achieve it, Fire Analyst must be a person (or a team of Fire Analysts) who accumulates a large experience analysing vegetation fires, participates in the response phase of the emergency management, who is involved in decision-making process all-year around and assumes responsibilities, and who is continuously monitoring the fire season. A Fire Analyst can also advice and participate in prevention, preparedness and post-fire phases. The definition of vegetation fire analysts included in this guide is based on the observation of currently existing cases. There is a network of analysts at European level and only a few specific cases that have been involved in remote support for forest fire analysis. It is therefore important to enhance the value of this network and build on the accumulated expertise to create a common framework at European level.

Fire analysis involves responsibility. The contributions of Fire Analysts influence and condition the decision making. Fire Analysis and Assessment not only focuses on managing information, understanding, processing and drawing conclusions but it also involves expert judgement, know-how and specific knowledge coming from different areas. Once a Fire Analyst has done a proposal, the Fire Analysis and Assessment will become part of what has been considered or discarded during decision-making, hence it will condition the operational response. Therefore, Fire Analysis and Assessment has an impact on decision-making and its consequences.

Vegetation fire analysis is linked to the decision-making. The Fire Analyst plans a scenario of resolution, but the implementation of this plan must interact and adjust to reality. Monitoring this changes from the field is key for decision making. Therefore, the analysis is fed by the results obtained, it detects and adjust changes and anticipates them thanks to direct monitoring. It requires a direct link with the situation in situ to have all the key elements that intervene and modify the scenario.

The competencies required for vegetation fire analysis should focus on covering a set of knowledge, skills and experience in real fires, as well as certain attitudes and behaviours that contribute to improve the response to vegetation fire emergencies (e.g., trust). Fire Analysis and Assessment, understood as an organisational capability, can be carried out with different configurations and figures that each organisation will have to integrate and adapt according to its needs and singularities. Therefore, this document does not offer an exhaustive list of competencies, but rather establishes a framework that makes it possible to identify competencies and skills, as well as examples of the contributions that analysis makes to decision-making and specific tasks according to a proposal of thematic areas. More specific descriptions can be derived from this framework, such as those provided as examples in the annexes to this document, but this would form part of the work subsequent to the preparation of this guide based on the specific adaptation to each organisation.