FOREST FIRES SUPRESSED BY KLABIN OF PARANA IN THE PERIOD 1965 - 2009

The records of fire occurrence enables planning for prevention and control, minimizing the damages. The objectives of this study were: determine the number of fires attended by fire brigades of Klabin in the period of 1965 to 2009, determine the fires temporal distribution, identify the probable causes, and identify the main classes of affected vegetation. To do so, records of fire occurrence provided by Klabin, as well as IAPAR meteorological data for the period were analyzed. The results showed that in the period of 1965 to 2009, there were 2,313 occurrences that affected 6,197 ha, with a reduction of the affected area over the period. The months of July, August and September presented the highest number of occurrence, totaling 1,183 (51.2%) fires. The events were uniformly distributed throughout the week, concentrated from 11 to 18 hours (72.8% of total). The main causes of fires were arson (54.2%), followed by cleaning burns (16.2%). The pine was the more susceptible vegetation, with 41.3% of the occurrences and 22.5% of the affected area. Although a large number of events occurred in eucalyptus (22.2%), the affected area was smaller than that “other planted species” (20.4%) and secondary forest (19.3%). In conclusion, there was an improvement of the protection system, considering the increase of the protected area and the decrease in the area affected by fires. Preventive actions directed to arsonists and agricultural burning, especially in periods of danger are needed.\u