Post-fire hillslope stabilization treatments

Post-fire hillslope stabilization treatments are treatments aimed at stabilizing fire-affected slopes by counteracting the negative impact of fire on vegetation and soil properties. The final objective of these treatments is reducing the risk of catastrophic runoff and erosion events and protecting valued resources downhill. Post-fire hillslope stabilization treatments are also called post-fire mitigation treatments and emergency stabilization treatments.
Vegetation fires usually partially or totally consume the canopy, above-ground organic residue (litter), fine roots, and soil organic compounds, reducing soil protection, enhancing soil water repellency, and compromising soil stability. The combined effect of fire and the occurrence of heavy rainfall in the post-fire season can lead to catastrophic hydrologic and erosion events with severe impacts on population and valued resources downhill such as housing, infrastructures, water supply systems, and critical habitats. 
For example, high intensity rainfall after the Thomas Fire in California (USA) led to catastrophic floods and debris flows in 2018 with 20 people dead, 300 houses destroyed, and critical infrastructures severely affected. Stabilization treatments are part of the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) programme implemented by the US Forest Service and Department of Interior (USA) and similar programmes such as the Rapid Response Assessment Team (RRAT) in Australia conducted in many other fire-prone regions.
Classification of post-fire hillslope stabilization treatments.
The design of the hillslope stabilization treatments are aimed at:
Types, selection, and implementation of post-fire treatments.
The selection of hillslope stabilization treatments should consider three key elements: (i) the effectiveness of the treatment, (iii) the cost of production and transport, and (i) the values-at-risk to be protected The most cost-effective treatment might not be adequate to protect critical values-at-risk whereas the treatment with the highest effectiveness and cost could not be suitable to treat large areas if the cost of repairing or replacing values-at-risk is low. Since the highest risk of catastrophic events happens during the first year after the fire, the implementation of any emergency treatment must be conducted quickly after the fire.