On the Fire Nature of a Subtropical Maritime Island in East Asia: Taiwan

Active wild fires over continental landmasses occur in the warm, dry summer. In contrast, in a study by Yen and Chen it was observed that the fire occurrence in Taiwan exhibits an annual variation with a peak in the cool, dry winter. Analysis of the fire-disaster reports released recently by the National Fire Administration of Taiwan shows that fire-related house damage, property loss, and human casualties, overall, exhibit annual variations in concert with the annual variation in the fire-occurrence frequency. The fire-disaster statistics support Yen and Chen’s observation of the annual variation of the fire-occurrence frequency on a subtropical maritime island.