Fire Injuries.pptx SAF 313 Forest protection.pptx

fire injuries

1. Forest fire

2. Introduction Forests are subjected to a variety of disturbances. Every year large areas of forests are affected by fires of varying intensity and extent. 54.40% of forests in India are exposed to occasional fires, 7.49% to moderately frequent fires and 2.405 to high incidence levels. Most of the forest fires in India are deliberately set by small-scale farmers or landless rural people. In the northeastern parts of India, the practice of slash-and-burn is the leading cause of forest destruction . The most heavily affected areas are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Nationally, an estimated 4.35 million ha are affected by fire as part of shifting cultivation. Another of the most important causes of forest fires is related to the need for fodder for grazing animals.

3. Forest fire Any wild land fire that utilizes the natural fuel is termed as forest fire. Forest fire may be defined as an unclosed and freely spreading combustion that consumes the natural fuels. Combustion is another word for fire. When a fire burns out of control it is known as Wild Fire. A single uncontrolled fire can ruin a forest and finish of the works of regenerations of forest officers.

4. Types and characteristics of fires a) General classification of forest fire 1) Wild fires: Wild fires arise because of the various natural causes inside the natural forest. In some regions, these are infrequent and often so severe. This forces plant communities back to early succession stages. 2) Prescribed fires: Planned fire is used in the destruction of forest for the sake of agricultural or grazing operations. They are of particular interest from the silvicultural point of view.

5. b) Based on the position of fuel 1) Under ground fire: occurs some meters below the ground surface. This consumes OM present in the soil. 2) Ground fire: utilize the fuel materials on the forest floor such as grasses and OM. 3) Creeping fire: consume the ground flora such as weeds and small shrubs. 4) Surface fire: consumes the ground flora along with some middle storey plants. 5) Crown fire: occurs in the coniferous forests. Here, fire is restricted only to the upper parts of the trees.

6. CHARACTERISTICS OF UNERGROUND FIRE

7. Ground fire

8. CREEPING FIRES Creeping forest fires break out in forests in which the ground flora is largely absent.

9. The characteristic features of such fires are

10. SURFACE FIRE Surface fire is the most common forest fires that burn undergrowth and dead material along the floor of the forest. It is the type of fire that burns surface litter, other loose debris of the forest floor and small vegetation. There is no clear distinction between underground and ground fires.

11. Cont.

12. Characteristics of surface fire

13. CROWN FIRE Crown fire is the most unpredictable fires that burn the top of trees and spread rapidly by wind. In most of the cases these fires are invariably ignited by surface fires.

14. CROWN FIRES

15. c) Based on the cause of forest fire: 1) Natural fire: is caused by the natural agents. 2) Accidental fire: is caused by the human activities without intention of doing that. 3) Intentional fire: is caused by the human being with specific intention.

16. Causes of Forest Fire

17. Fire behaviour/character Variation in fire behavior is caused by speed and direction of surface wind, condition of topography, local variation in fuel and nature of vegetation. This also depend on the slope condition and availability of fuel. Fire moves fast along the direction of wind and least in the direction against the wind. Fire moves along the direction where fuel is continuously available. In slopes, the fire moves fastly in upslope and least in down slope.

18. Forest fire prevention measures Good will of the local people. Educating the masses. Restrictions on collection of NTFPs during summer. Legislative measures. Action against dereliction of duty and reward for continous work in preventing fires. Organization for forecasting dangerous burning days. Organization, training and detailing of staff for fire control activity. Hazard reduction- Controlled burning, burning of grassy blanks, slash disposal, controlled burning,,etc. Firebreaks and firelines. Indirect measures Direct measures Reference- Forest protection by L.S. Khanna Handbook of forest protection by S.S. Negi

19. Forest fire control Detection- by fire watchers, watch towers, local people, aerial patrolling, etc. Quick communication of occurrence of fire to range and sub-headquarters. Quick action for suppression of fire. Arrangement of labours. Fire extinguishing By water By earth By beating By counterfiring By using chemicals- Bentonite, calcium alginate, etc. By using machine and devices- motor pumps, knapsack fire extinguishers and sprays.

20. Injuries to forests due fire Damage to the trees Damage to regeneration Damage to soil Damage to productive power of the forest Damage to productive power of the forest

21. Injuries to forests due fire Every year large areas of forests are affected by fires of varying intensity and extent. Based on the forest inventory records,  54.40% of forests in India are exposed to occasional fires. 7.49% to moderately frequent fires and 2.405 to high incidence levels while 35.71% of India’s forests  have not yet been exposed to fires of any real significance. Precious forest resources including carbon locked in the biomass is lost due to forest fires every year, which adversely impact the flow of goods and services from forests.

22. Cont. The total burnt forest area in India for the fire season 2019-2020 (i.e., from 01st November, 2019 to 30th June, 2020) was 11,094 sq. km , which is 1.56% of the total forest cover area of the country. Among the different physiographic zones, the maximum forest burnt area has been found in Deccan (5626 sq. km) followed by Central Highlands (2160 sq. km) . These two physiographic zones together have contributed to 70% of the total forest burnt areas. Wildfires have significant impacts globally, causing the loss of, among other things, human life, built assets, biodiversity, habitat, production and productivity; the degradation of landscapes; and the disruption of livelihoods.

23. Cont. ( i ) Damage to the trees- The damage caused to the trees varies with species, age of trees, their condition and the season. The species which have thick corky bark are comparatively less affected by forest fires than the species with thin bark. The broad-leaved trees are less affected by forest fire than the conifers. Deodar, spruce and fir are very fire-sensitive and get dried up as a result of forest fire. Chir , on the other hand, due to its thick corky bark is fire-resistant. But if a chir tree has resin channels on it, it gets very severely damaged because the dry resin in channels, keeps fire burning fiercely for a long time. The age of the trees also affects the damage due to fire. The younger trees, because of low height and lesser diameter, are greatly damaged and if their height is only upto 5 or 6m, even an ordinary fire dries them up.

24. Cont. Damage to soil: Ordinarily, any fire of reasonable intensity burns down every thing except the trees. Thus, the soil is laid bare to the action of elements, viz., sun, wind and rain. Consequently soil erosion starts resulting in loss of top fertile soil. Wild fires eliminate organic matter content in soil. Nutrient reserves of the soil are depleted.

25. Cont. Damage to productive power of the forest: Forest fires seriously affect the productive capacity of the forests. Repeated fires degenerate a valuable evergreen forest into inferior deciduous forest or even grass lands. Valuable species disappear and their place is taken by inferior fire-hardy species. Density and increment of forest is reduced and this affects the yields. As timber becomes defective, it fetches lesser price in the market.

26. Cont. Damage to wild animals: Forest fire results in enormous loss to wild animals and birds. It burns not only the eggs or young ones but sometimes even the bigger animals also. It destructs the habitat and shelter of animals mainly of animals living in dense shrubs. This causes migration of wild animals from one place to other Damage to the recreational and scenic value: As fire destroys the greenery of the forest, it destroys its recreational and scenic value.

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