Abstract:

The numbers of firefighters dispatched in initial attacks of forest fires with different fire parameters in Heilongjiang Province were obtained by sending questionnaires to county level fire commanders.Nonlinear Multivariable models were established to simulate the number from fire parameters in the paper.Analysis was also made on the factors affecting the dispatch decision.The results showed that (1)the models could simulate the process very well.(2)The models constructed based on the data from a single county had much better performance than those based on combined data of several counties.(3)Most of the commanders involved regarded wind as the principal factor in the decision-making and the distance to burning site of the second importance and the area burned the third when the area is less then 2 hm².(4)The weight of distance to burning site increased with the years of fire fighting that a fire commander has engaged.

Key words: Initial attack, Forest fire, Heilongjiang Province