Fire Suppression Activities Research Articles

Project Aquarius 5. Activity Distribution, Energy Expenditure, and Productivity of Men Suppressing Free-Running Wildland Fires With Hand Tools

Timed-activity studies were made of four crews while they attempted to suppress well-developed experimental bushfires of intensities commonly faced by handtool crews, and also while they built fireline in the same way without fire, during three summers in Australian eucalypt forests. Fireline construction with rakehoes (including step up) occupied, on average, 63% of the crew's time. Firefighters raked for 38 seconds followed by 10 seconds of step up, thus obtaining frequent brief rests for the arm muscles involved in raking. Energy expenditure (EE) of all fire-suppression activities averaged 516 W, equivalent to a relative work load (RWL) of 45% of the men's maximum work capacity. Pulmonary ventilation averaged 55 (range 38-83) 1 min-1 during raking and 40 (range 23-73) 1 min-1 during all activities. Each firefighter built 1.90 m2 of fireline per minute of raking, and 1.21 m2 min-1 over the whole period of the attack. Each hour the six men engaged in fireline construction built and held 436 m2, i.e. 512 metres of fireline 0.85 metres wide. Individuals consistently differed twofold in their self-chosen levels of raking EE and RWL and threefold in productivity and efficiency (productivity per unit EE), whereas average raking EE did not differ between crews, nor between attacks with and without fire. We conclude that wildland firefighters pace themselves at their own preferred and sustainable work rates.

Forest health monitoring in Canada: How healthy is the boreal forest?

The Canadian boreal forest covers 299.2 Mha which is two-thirds of Canada's forest and runs in a continuous belt from Newfoundland north and west to the Yukon. The major species are spruce, pines, balsam fir, white birch and trembling aspen often occurring in extensive monocultures. Wildfire is the driving successional force in the boreal forest and has remained so despite fire suppression activities and extensive harvesting. Insects and diseases also cause extensive damage. In order to ensure the sustainability of forests, it is necessary for the forest manager to know the condition of the health of these forests. The CFS established in 1984 the Acid Rain National Early Warning System in order to monitor the health of the forests. National results show that mortality is generally in the normal range of 1–3% and is caused by known stresses; insects, diseases and abiotic damage. No signs of pollution damage have been yet been detected in boreal forests by the system. An early warning system to detect and monitor conditions remains an essential part of our commitment to the sustainability of Canada's forests.

Environmental Problems Caused By Fires And Fire-fighting Agents

For fire safety engineering, a new responsibility to avoid environmental damage arises besides the traditional tasks, which in the first line are the protection of life and property. An increasing awareness focusses on the environmental impacts of fire suppression activities. The global dimensions of environmental pollution originating from major incidents as well as from natural fires, are depicted. The banning of Halons because of their ozone depleting potential is explained. Initiated by a fire in a chemical warehouse Central Europe's interest concentrates on the retention of contaminated extinguishing water. Finally, remediation strategies for firerelated environmental pollution are discussed.

High altitude aircraft remote sensing during the 1988 Yellowstone national park wildfires

An overview is presented of the effects of the wildfires that occurred in the Yellowstone National Park during 1988 and the techniques employed to combat these fires with the use of remote sensing. The fire management team utilized King-Air and Merlin aircraft flying night missions with a thermal IR line-scanning system. NASA-Ames Research Center assisted with an ER-2 high altitude aircraft with the ability to down-link active data from the aircraft via a teledetection system. The ER-2 was equipped with a multispectral Thematic Mapper Simulator scanner and the resultant map data and video imagery was provided to the fire command personnel for field evaluation and fire suppression activities. This type of information proved very valuable to the fire control management personnel and to the continuing ecological research goals of NASA-Ames scientists analyzing the effects of burn type and severity on ecosystem recovery and development.