Wildfire suppression
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the available fuel, the local atmospheric conditions, the features of the terrain, and the size of the wildfire. Because of this wildfire suppression in wild land areas usually requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas. Working in conjunction with specially designed aerial firefighting aircraft, fire engines, tools, firefighting foams, fire retardants, and using various firefighting techniques, wildfire-trained crews work to suppress flames, construct fire lines, and extinguish flames and areas of heat in order to protect resources and natural wilderness. Wildfire suppression also addresses the issues of the wildland–urban interface, where populated areas border with wild land areas.
In the United States and other countries, aggressive wildfire suppression aimed at minimizing fires has often protected and saved significant wildlands, but has sometimes contributed to accumulation of fuel loads, increasing the risk of large, catastrophic fires.
Issues in implementing wildfire suppression
Safety
Protection of human life is first priority for firefighters. Since 1995, when arriving on a scene, a fire crew will establish safety zones and escape routes, verify communication is in place, and designate lookouts. This allows the firefighters to engage a fire with options for a retreat should their current situation become unsafe. Although other safety zones should be designated, areas already burned generally provide a safe refuge from fire provided they have cooled sufficiently, are accessible, and have burned enough fuels so as to not reignite. Briefings may be done to inform new fire resources of hazards and other pertinent information.A great emphasis is placed on safety and preventing entrapment, a situation where escape from the fire is impossible. Prevention of this situation is reinforced with two training protocols, Ten Standard Firefighting Orders and Eighteen Situations That Shout Watch Out, which warn firefighters of potentially dangerous situations, developed in the aftermath of the Mann Gulch fire. As a last resort, many wildland firefighters carry a fire shelter. In this inescapable situation, the shelter will provide limited protection from radiant and convective heat, as well as superheated air. Entrapment within a fire shelter is called a burnover. In Australia, firefighters rarely carry fireshelters ; rather, training is given to locate natural shelters or use hand tools to create protection; or, in the instance of 'burnover' in a tanker or other fire appliance, 'fire overrun' training is used.
Hazards beyond the fire are posed as well. A very small sample of these include: unstable/hazardous trees, animals, electrical cables, unexploded ordnance, hazardous materials, rolling and falling debris, and lightning.
Personal safety is also vital to wildland firefighting. The proper use of PPE and firefighting equipment will help minimise accidents. At the very minimum, wildland firefighters should have proper fire-retardant clothing, protective headgear, wildland firefighting-specific boots, gloves, water for hydration, fire shelters, eye protection, and some form of communication.
Resource protection
Resources are ranked according to importance and value almost like a checklist that starts from the top and goes all the way down. The importance of these resources gets mentioned to the people involved in combating wildfires, including the volunteers who gather at fire safety Councils, where they get taught the importance of these resources and try to prioritize them when mitigating fires. These include human health and safety, construction cost, ecological impacts, social and legal consequences, and the costs of protection however, there are other resources that also count towards that list such as soil which is one of the most important resources for the environment that gets cared for by volunteers that are on the lookout, they also get trained on the right amount of heat that is required for soil to flourish hence why they go through prescribed fires to properly nurture it. Defendability is also considered, as more effort will need to be expended on saving a house with a wooden-shake roof than one with a tile roof, for example.Ecosystem changes
While wildfire suppression focuses more on benefiting human safety and resource protection, the lack of natural fires can lead to various negative ecosystem changes, such as ruining the overall quality of the soil, as can the size of fires when they do occur at a different level than what is recommended for the soil. Fire ecology is accordingly not as simple as many might assume due to the plethora of different effects that it can have on both people and the landscape. Across the global grassland and savanna ecosystems, fire suppression is frequently found to be a driver of woody encroachment and poor quality soil, which in return also affects wildlife due to the lack of nutrients.History
Australia
Wildfire, known in Australia as bushfire, has long played a major role in Australian ecology and society. Early European navigators of the 17th century, who approached the west coast of Australia, reported seeing fires on the land. Records of the 1830’s and 1840’s indicated that aboriginals used fires for driving game from thickets of scrub and to induce young growth which would attract the game. It is also recorded that they lit such fires against the wind and were careful to try and control the fires- a matter in which they were reputed to be astonishingly dexterous. When the early European settlers attempted to emulate the Aboriginal methods in order to clear land or improve pasture, indiscriminate burning and a lack of knowledge of fire behaviour soon led to an intolerable situation, and a need for a controlled approach became apparent.Early bush fire legislation across the colonies in the second half of the 19th century restricted when, where and by whom prescribed burns may be lit. Many of these acts also provided for the creation of volunteer bush fire brigades, their registration and legal protection.
The early 20th century saw the evolution of local bushfire brigades into statewide agencies spurred by many large and devastating fires that highlighted the need for further organization, modernization, and centralized command structures. In NSW the need was recognized for improved access to remote and mountainous terrain for the purpose of fire mitigation and defence. In 1958 Fire Prevention Associations were established to develop fire trails on Crown Land. These trails evolved into a strategic network providing engine access and control lines, largely shaping the engine based tactics used in the region.
Canada
Canada contains approximately of forest land. Seventy-five percent of this is boreal forest, made up primarily of coniferous trees. More than 90 percent of Canadian forest land is publicly owned, and the provincial and territorial governments are responsible for fire-suppression activities. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre coordinates assistance between all provincial and territorial wildfire management agencies.During a typical year there are over 9,000 forest fires in Canada, burning an average of 2.5 million hectares or. The number of fires and area burned can vary dramatically from year to year. Average suppression costs are $500 million to $1 billion annually.
In Canada, two-thirds of all forest fires are caused by people, while lightning causes the remaining third. Despite this, lightning fires account for over 85 percent of the area burned in Canada, largely because many of the lightning-caused fires occur in remote, inaccessible areas. Currently about ninety percent of forest fires are fought. Generally fires near communities, industrial infrastructure, and forests with high commercial and recreation value are given high priority for suppression efforts. In remote areas and wilderness parks, fires may be left to burn as part of the natural ecological cycle.
United States
in preserving nature, but once populations began to grow across the U.S., wildfires started to trigger unprecedented destruction of property and sometimes resulted in massive death tolls. Greater impact on people's lives led to government intervention and changes to how wildfires were addressed.One of the first turning points for firefighting philosophies in the U.S. happened in October 1871 with the Great Chicago Fire. Six years removed from the Civil War, the Fire destroyed more than 17,000 buildings across the Windy City, upended thousands of lives and devastated their thriving business community.
The same day as the Chicago Fire, a much larger, more deadly fire occurred. The Peshtigo Fire broke out on the morning of October 8, 1871. It burned for three days, and while estimates vary, the consensus is that it killed more than 1,200 people – making it the deadliest wildfire in American history to this day. In addition to the number of people killed, the fire burned more than 1.2 million acres of land and spread to nearby towns, where it caused even more damage. The entire town of Peshtigo was destroyed within an hour of the start of the fire.
As a result of the 1871 fire breakouts, the federal government saw that it needed to act. This led in 1876 to the creation of the Office of Special Agent in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assess the quality and conditions of forests in the United States. As the forerunner of the U.S. Forest Service, this was the first time that wildfire management was placed under government purview.
In the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1910, the U.S. Forest Service received considerable recognition for its firefighting efforts, including a doubling of its budget from Congress. The fire is often considered a significant impetus in the development of early wildfire prevention and suppression strategies.