First Consideration About Post 2017 Wildfire Erosion Response and Debris Flow in Susa Valley (NW Italy)

This paper contains the first results of an ongoing research dealing with post-fire mass movements in Italy. Although the attention of the scientific community is increasing worldwide, very few geo-hydrological processes occurring in burned areas are reported for Italy. As the probability of occurrence and magnitude of wildfires is expected to increase in the future because of climate change, more efforts should be made to deepen knowledge on interacting disturbances. Here, we present a case study regarding the erosional response after fire recurrence in a watershed located in NW Italy, where multiple flow processes occurred after six months since the last wildfire, as a consequence of different rainstorms. It contains a description of the geological and geomorphological background, the burn severity assessment together with the analysis of the triggering rainfalls and the outline of the main geomorphic effects that affected people and lifelines.