A Preliminary Assessment of Irrigated Green Firebreaks for Reducing Fire Spread and Intensity in Wildland–Urban Interface Landscapes: Noosa Shire, Australia

Jady D. Smith; Anthony Power; Francis E. Putz; Sam Van Holsbeeck

doi:10.3390/fire9080347

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A Preliminary Assessment of Irrigated Green Firebreaks for Reducing Fire Spread and Intensity in Wildland–Urban Interface Landscapes: Noosa Shire, Australia

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A Preliminary Assessment of Irrigated Green Firebreaks for Reducing Fire Spread and Intensity in Wildland–Urban Interface Landscapes: Noosa Shire, Australia

Jady D. Smith, Anthony Power, Francis E. Putz and Sam Van Holsbeeck

Fire, Vol.9(8), pp.1-19

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/fire9080347

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Abstract

irrigated green firebreak

wildland–urban interface

green firebreak (GFB)

fire-behaviour modelling

AMICUS

Vesta Mk2

Climate change, altered ecosystems, and expanding development in fire-prone landscapes are increasing fire risk in the wildland–urban interface (WUI). This study uses Noosa, southeast Queensland, Australia, as a case study for a preliminary modeling assessment of irrigated green firebreaks (iGFBs). Using the AMICUS Vesta Mk2 fire-behavior model, fire spread rates and fireline intensity were compared across dry eucalypt control scenarios, non-irrigated green firebreak scenarios, and irrigated green firebreak scenarios receiving 1 and 2 mm m−2 day−1 of water. In line with future climate predictions, these scenarios were compared under progressively worsening fire-weather conditions. The drought-affected dry eucalypt control produced the highest predicted fire spread rates and fireline intensity, and although non-irrigated green firebreak scenarios reduced fire behavior, they may still exceed typical suppression thresholds under catastrophic conditions. In contrast, iGFB scenarios consistently reduced both fire spread rates and fireline intensity across all fire-weather classes. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the model outputs were most responsive to drought- and moisture-related assumptions, supporting the importance of fuel moisture in the performance of the iGFB concept. Although iGFBs are not a stand-alone solution suitable for all settings, the findings provide a preliminary region-specific proof of concept for iGFBs and support the need for further applied research.

Details

Title: A Preliminary Assessment of Irrigated Green Firebreaks for Reducing Fire Spread and Intensity in Wildland–Urban Interface Landscapes: Noosa Shire, Australia
Authors: Jady D. Smith (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Anthony Power - University of the Sunshine Coast
Francis E. Putz - University of the Sunshine Coast
Sam Van Holsbeeck - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Fire, Vol.9(8), pp.1-19
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.3390/fire9080347
ISSN: 2571-6255
Copyright note: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Data Availability: The data supporting reported results can be found in the main article. For replication, this data was processed with AMICUS v0.7.1 beta platform with Vesta MK2.
Grant note: The lead author’s PhD studies were supported by scholarships from the University of the Sunshine Coast and Natural Hazards Research Australia.
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; Forest Industries Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991253599002621
Output Type: Journal article

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