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2 August 2024
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Featured FRI Magazine article: Are wildfire investigations really necessary to assist in reducing future fires? by Rob Erasmus, Enviro Wildfire Services (FRI Vol 2 no 7)
Unfortunately many people incorrectly believe that the origin and cause of fires of this scale cannot be determined
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Matches bundled with an elastic band placed at the scene afterwards as a decoy to the origin and cause of the fire
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The handheld distress flare located some distance away that was the actual cause of the fire
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The specific origin where book-matches were used to start a malicious fire. Can you see them ? Their location will be made known in the next article.
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This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Are wildfire investigations really necessary to assist in reducing future fires? Written by Rob Erasmus, Enviro Wildfire Services (FRI Vol 2 no 7). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Are wildfire investigations really necessary to assist in reducing future fires?
By Rob Erasmus, Enviro Wildfire Services
This is the first part of a five part series of articles on wild fire investigations.
“Effective management is based on developing strategies using facts as the foundation. Incorrect information results in misdirected efforts, equating to a wasting of resources, time and money.”
This very strategy is applicable to a wide range of undertakings, including wildfire management. The current trend of fire departments and other organisations tasked with the management wildfires throughout South Africa is primarily reactive, ie responding to fire call outs.
While many profess to have successful proactive initiatives such as children’s programmes, community outreach initiatives, etc, the majority are completely misguided simply because they have no idea who is starting the fires.
I provide a simple example. In a specific area, regular fires have been occurring next to a reasonably quiet road on weekdays between 18h00 to 20h00. It is presumed by the authorities that a) they must be caused by cigarettes, and b) it must be motorist flicking out burning cigarette butts while driving home. Based on this fact-less presumption, cigarette smokers are targeted as being the bad guys and as it felt it is impossible to catch the culprits, the local fire department spends precious manpower and funds responding to these numerous fires throughout the season. They also promote a cigarette reporting hot-line and are inundated with calls of people reporting cigarettes being discarded in a built up area.
Based on their misguided assumption no wildfire cause-investigations are undertaken in the area.
The truth of the matter is that someone is purposefully setting the fires next to the road for personal satisfaction reasons including developing and testing incendiary devices. They have been doing so for the past five years and continue to do so knowing that they will never be caught because the fires are never investigated. All the incendiary devices are destroyed by the first responders and the perpetrator receives much please in seeing the firefighters racing to the scene to stop the spreading of the fire in windy conditions. These fires may or may not cause large scale damage to property and could one day result in the injury or death of a firefighter or a local landowner.
Based on experience and training, an investigator will know that the chances of a roadside wildfire starting in this area between 18h00 to 20h00 are extremely remote and while it is possible, it is highly unlikely that all the reported fires are as a result of discarded cigarettes.
The hypothetical reasoning is as follows:
1. The area is east facing, so is in shadow from the afternoon onwards with low temperatures and moist fine fuels, which are not conducive to cigarettes starting the wildfire and
2. The area is close to the sea and during the summer received moisture-laden air in excess of 55% RH, which is again not conducive to cigarettes starting a fire and
3. The road has approximately 40 vehicles travelling along it during the period, as compared to nearby roads that have 4 000 vehicles travelling along them with no ignitions.
All factors, even prior to any investigations being undertaken indicate that it is not cigarettes but malicious acts that are the cause of the fires.
However, lack of qualified manpower ie fire investigators and insufficient funds are the reason why none of the fires are investigated and so the perpetrator is allowed to continue with his/her destructive acts. It is strange that the lack of funds is used as a reason when each firefighting operation costs some 30 times more than an investigation when the cost of all the resources are considered ie aerial support, vehicles, staff.
Put simply, if any firefighting organisation is serious about wishing to reduce unwanted wildfires, they need to consider determining the true cause of the fires based on facts and not through presumption. Presuming that it is smokers, children, delinquent youth, homeless people or fire setters can result in efforts to prevent future fires being completely misguided.
Bear in mind that in 90 percent of cases if called in quickly enough ie before the origin has been contaminated or destroyed by suppression efforts, the origin and cause can be determined. With a sufficient number of fires investigated over time, accurate data and trends can be determined, as well as suitable evidence collected and in so doing building a case against a person or group that are maliciously setting wildfires, be it for whatever reason. These things take time but one has to start somewhere.
We are aware that investigations cost money, but they are a fraction of the cost of a firefighting operation. The sooner the investigation is undertaken (as soon as possible after it has been reported), the lower the costs. For those firefighting agencies that do not have suitably trained and experienced staff, they could consider explore entering into agreements with an investigation company that are usually willing to offer reduced rates with certain terms and conditions.
In conclusion, unless the true causes of wildfires in your area are determined through proper wildfire investigation, you will continue to put effort into prevention initiatives based on assumption that might be completely off the mark. Put simply, wildfire origin and cause investigations are necessary if one wishes to reduce wildfires.
In part two of this five part series we will look at the short, medium and long term benefits of undertaking origin and cause wildfire investigations
For more information about wildfire investigations and exploring possible agreements for your area, please contact Rob Erasmus at [email protected].
Are wildfire investigations really necessary to assist in reducing future fires?
By Rob Erasmus, Enviro Wildfire Services
This is the first part of a five part series of articles on wild fire investigations.
“Effective management is based on developing strategies using facts as the foundation. Incorrect information results in misdirected efforts, equating to a wasting of resources, time and money.”
This very strategy is applicable to a wide range of undertakings, including wildfire management. The current trend of fire departments and other organisations tasked with the management wildfires throughout South Africa is primarily reactive, ie responding to fire call outs.
While many profess to have successful proactive initiatives such as children’s programmes, community outreach initiatives, etc, the majority are completely misguided simply because they have no idea who is starting the fires.
I provide a simple example. In a specific area, regular fires have been occurring next to a reasonably quiet road on weekdays between 18h00 to 20h00. It is presumed by the authorities that a) they must be caused by cigarettes, and b) it must be motorist flicking out burning cigarette butts while driving home. Based on this fact-less presumption, cigarette smokers are targeted as being the bad guys and as it felt it is impossible to catch the culprits, the local fire department spends precious manpower and funds responding to these numerous fires throughout the season. They also promote a cigarette reporting hot-line and are inundated with calls of people reporting cigarettes being discarded in a built up area.
Based on their misguided assumption no wildfire cause-investigations are undertaken in the area.
The truth of the matter is that someone is purposefully setting the fires next to the road for personal satisfaction reasons including developing and testing incendiary devices. They have been doing so for the past five years and continue to do so knowing that they will never be caught because the fires are never investigated. All the incendiary devices are destroyed by the first responders and the perpetrator receives much please in seeing the firefighters racing to the scene to stop the spreading of the fire in windy conditions. These fires may or may not cause large scale damage to property and could one day result in the injury or death of a firefighter or a local landowner.
Based on experience and training, an investigator will know that the chances of a roadside wildfire starting in this area between 18h00 to 20h00 are extremely remote and while it is possible, it is highly unlikely that all the reported fires are as a result of discarded cigarettes.
The hypothetical reasoning is as follows:
1. The area is east facing, so is in shadow from the afternoon onwards with low temperatures and moist fine fuels, which are not conducive to cigarettes starting the wildfire and
2. The area is close to the sea and during the summer received moisture-laden air in excess of 55% RH, which is again not conducive to cigarettes starting a fire and
3. The road has approximately 40 vehicles travelling along it during the period, as compared to nearby roads that have 4 000 vehicles travelling along them with no ignitions.
All factors, even prior to any investigations being undertaken indicate that it is not cigarettes but malicious acts that are the cause of the fires.
However, lack of qualified manpower ie fire investigators and insufficient funds are the reason why none of the fires are investigated and so the perpetrator is allowed to continue with his/her destructive acts. It is strange that the lack of funds is used as a reason when each firefighting operation costs some 30 times more than an investigation when the cost of all the resources are considered ie aerial support, vehicles, staff.
Put simply, if any firefighting organisation is serious about wishing to reduce unwanted wildfires, they need to consider determining the true cause of the fires based on facts and not through presumption. Presuming that it is smokers, children, delinquent youth, homeless people or fire setters can result in efforts to prevent future fires being completely misguided.
Bear in mind that in 90 percent of cases if called in quickly enough ie before the origin has been contaminated or destroyed by suppression efforts, the origin and cause can be determined. With a sufficient number of fires investigated over time, accurate data and trends can be determined, as well as suitable evidence collected and in so doing building a case against a person or group that are maliciously setting wildfires, be it for whatever reason. These things take time but one has to start somewhere.
We are aware that investigations cost money, but they are a fraction of the cost of a firefighting operation. The sooner the investigation is undertaken (as soon as possible after it has been reported), the lower the costs. For those firefighting agencies that do not have suitably trained and experienced staff, they could consider explore entering into agreements with an investigation company that are usually willing to offer reduced rates with certain terms and conditions.
In conclusion, unless the true causes of wildfires in your area are determined through proper wildfire investigation, you will continue to put effort into prevention initiatives based on assumption that might be completely off the mark. Put simply, wildfire origin and cause investigations are necessary if one wishes to reduce wildfires.
In part two of this five part series we will look at the short, medium and long term benefits of undertaking origin and cause wildfire investigations
For more information about wildfire investigations and exploring possible agreements for your area, please contact Rob Erasmus at [email protected].