The seasons are changing. Winter as well as the fire season is knocking on the door. We are all aware of the current extreme weather conditions around the globe.
As landowners we cannot change the weather conditions but we should have a very good understanding of what is happening around us. Weather: wind speed and relative humidity is the main drivers of extreme fire behaviour and if you do not understand these you will find yourselves unprepared during a fire incident. Please adhere to the local FDI standard operating procedures and take special note of periods when the relative humidity fall below 30% and wind speeds above 20km/hr. Under this conditions fire behaviour will be extreme.
The only way to be prepared for a fire incident is to ensure that your input resources are 100% ready at all times. They are your fire fighting teams, your fire equipment and fire tools. Fires during extreme weather conditions do not wait for unpreparedness. Remember a fire tender with an untrained crew is useless at the fire line. Ensure that your pump and hose configurations match your type of expected fire behaviour on you property. High pressure system is effective in light fuels (grass) but in effective in heavy fuels. Design your fire suppression strategy to include bulk water supply directly to the fire line. A fire tender without water is useless and fires will not wait for you the refill your tankers.
The general gap in the South African forest fire fighting crew resource is, in adequate knowledge and skills training to effectively utilise the full capacity of the new range of fire tenders.
We still attack fires with only rubber hoses and then we do not know what to do when we run out of hose or pressure. We still see that the whole crew hanging on the hose instead of fighting the fire. We normally train in isolation and only start practice new skill at the fire line. We should change this. We should do more practical infield simulation training to prepare for a fire incident. How you prepare will reflect how you perform. Our fire crews can be much more effective at the fire line.
During fire incident there can only be one person in command (fire boss). The main role of the commander is to control, coordinate and communicate and as we already know the weakest link is our communication at the fire line. If we cannot communicate we cannot control or coordinate, resulting in chaos at the fire line.
They say the more resources you assign at the line the bigger the fire will get, think about it…
I don’t say don’t send them to the fire , I say don’t assign all resources at the same time, only use what’s required the rest must wait at the staging area. Help the fire bosses here, do not just dive in, get your instructions and assignment first.
My perception is that the majority of the current crews and initial attack fire bosses haven’t experienced a 2007 fire season. Make sure we all understand the trigger points that will lead to extreme fire behaviour and match experience with the complexity. Do proper size up and develop safe but effective objectives, strategies and tactical assignments. Work on the priority flanks first.
You will have fires; just keep them small and do proper mopping up.
Ben Potgieter, Contributor