Fire-smart management as nature-based solution to extreme wildfires in abandoned rural landscapes of Southern Europe
Authors: Pais Silvana , Campos João , Lecina Judit , Regos Adrián 
Published: October 2022

The continuous research and development regarding firefightersâ€™ personal protective equipment (PPE) has led to significant improvements in recent decades. The findings that contributed the most to the firefightersâ€™ protective clothing evolution, increasing the protection, were the use of high-performance fibers, flame-retardant polymer fibers and the changes on clothing structure namely the incorporation of a multi-layer system. Despite the evolution of firefighters PPE, every year an undesirable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations with some of them eventually losing their life. Therefore, the need to proceed the research and development regarding thermal protective clothing arises, to increase firefightersâ€™ protection and consequently minimize firefightersâ€™ heat load and skin burn. Firefightersâ€™ protection can be further increased with the incorporation of smart textiles in the personal protective equipment, such as integrated sensors to monitor parameters such as heart rate, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide detector and setting real-time communication with a command post. In addition to the wearable electronics, regarding smart textiles alternatives for firefighters PPE, several studies have been conducted to incorporate phase change materials (PCM) in firefighters thermal protective clothing with satisfactory results. These advanced materials will absorb the heat from the fire leading to a reduction of the amount of heat to which firefighters are exposed to and an increase of the time that firefighters can be exposed to heat. The evolution of firefighters PPE has been followed by an evolution and update of the international and national standards that specify performance requirements for firefightersâ€™ protective clothing for structural and wildland firefighting as well as technical rescue. In respect to structural firefighting, the applicable European standard is EN 469:2020: Protective clothing for firefighters â€“ Performance requirements for protective clothing for firefightersâ€™ activities and regarding the wildland firefighting, the international standard prevailing is EN ISO 15384:2020: Protective clothing for firefighters â€“ Laboratory test methods and performance requirements for wildland firefighting clothing. For technical rescue the applicable European standard is EN 16689: 2017: Protective clothing for firefighters â€“ Performance requirements for protective clothing for technical rescue. Given the growing trend towards the incorporation of smart materials in firefighters PPE is important to study and develop new standards to certify these innovative protective clothing for firefighters, regardless the efforts being done within CEN / TC 248/WG 31 - Smart Textiles. To preserve the protection of firefighters protective clothing there are some actions that must be taken during the protective garmentsâ€™ life cycle. Therefore, recently was developed a technical report, a CEN/ TR1760:2021 that describes the guidelines for selection use, care and maintenance of smart garments protecting against heat and flame. This study will focus on the analysis of firefighters protective clothing evolution regarding the use and integration of advanced smart materials, namely phase change materials, taking in consideration the evolution and requirements of international and European standards as well as national legislation for firefightersâ€™ protective clothing.