The Challenges of Wildland Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Scope • Introduction • Global Patterns and Statistics • Fire Investigation o Factors Affecting Ignition and Spread o Common Burn Patterns o Challenges Faced • Case Studies from Singapore CONFIDENTIAL
A Bit About Me… Career Milestones • 2005 : Joined SCDF after graduating with a Bachelors Degree (Hons) in Chemistry and Management from Imperial College, London • 2009 : Commander, Banyan Fire Station • 2010 : Commander, Tampines Fire Station • 2014 : Assistant Director, HazMat Department • 2016 : Pursued Masters Degree in Fire Investigation at University of Central Lancashire, U.K. • 2017 : Commander, Fire Research Unit concurrent Commander, Fire Investigation Unit (7 th posting) CONFIDENTIAL
A Bit About Singapore… • Singapore is an island city-state about 720km 2 in area • Multicultural population of about 5.7 million • Tropical climate • Relatively safe from natural disasters CONFIDENTIAL
A Bit About the SCDF… To protect and save lives and property for a safe and secure Singapore A World-Leading Life Saving Force through People, Innovation and Partnership for an Emergency Ready Nation CONFIDENTIAL 5/35
A Graduated Response to Incidents CONFIDENTIAL
Recent Major Incidents Tuas Waste Management Plant Fire 23 Feb 2017 Tampines CK Building Fire 17 Aug 2016 PB Tankstore Oil Tank Fire PIE Highway Construction Works Collapse 20 Mar 2018 14 Jul 2017 CONFIDENTIAL
Wildland Fires CONFIDENTIAL
Source: UN ISDR Regions of Wildland Fires CONFIDENTIAL
Huge Losses Incurred Loss of ecosystems Loss of homes and way of life Loss of lives, including fire fighters CONFIDENTIAL
Tragic Loss of Lives Top 10 Most Significant Wildfires for Fatalities from 1900 – 2016 Source: Statista 2018 CONFIDENTIAL
Troubling Trends More homes are being lost to wildfire… while the cost of wildfire suppression increases. Source: National Interagency Fire Centre, USA CONFIDENTIAL
Regional Wildfires 2015 Indonesia Forest Fire • Cost: US$16 billion • Haze affected Singapore deployed 1 Chinook and the neighbouring countries Bambi MAX (5000 litres) to assist in firefighting operations • Assets and firefighters deployed from the region. CONFIDENTIAL
Wildland Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Factors Affecting Ignition and Spread • Weather o Wind – affects fire spread and growth o Relative humidity – affects ignition and intensity o Temperature – preheats fuels • Topography o Slope o Aspect – direction the slope faces o Terrain – existence of natural fire breaks, barriers, etc Source: theintegralschoolblog.org CONFIDENTIAL
Factors Affecting Ignition and Spread • Fuels o Type o Size o Arrangement o Moisture o Categories (subsurface / surface / aerial) Duff Ground / surface litter Slash Ladder fuels Source: advancedmastergardener.org Crown CONFIDENTIAL
Origin and Cause Source: Private Forest Landowners Association, California Source: Fire Engineering CONFIDENTIAL
Common Burn Patterns V-patterns Degree of damage Depth / angle of char Source: Interfire Source: Kirk’s Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Common Burn Patterns Sooting Cupping Spalling Beveling Source: Kirk’s Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Common Burn Patterns Protection Foliage freeze Grass stems Source: Kirk’s Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Potential Causes of Fire Natural – lightning , volcanic activity Human – equipment use, debris burning , campfire, religious activities, smoking, fireworks, railroad, child’s play, incendiary Miscellaneous – sunray ( with glass refraction ), spontaneous combustion, embers from previous fire Undetermined CONFIDENTIAL
Challenges Faced Large area of operation and time consuming Difficult to preserve evidence Evidence of ignition source usually absent Source: panow.com CONFIDENTIAL
Challenges Faced Potentially multiple points / areas of origin Requires specialization and deep knowledge on fuels involved Disproportionately larger percentage of undetermined causes compared to structural fires CONFIDENTIAL
Statistics & Case Studies from Singapore CONFIDENTIAL 24/35
Vegetation Fire Stats (2015 – 2017) 200 2015 150 2016 100 2017 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2015 89 218 97 48 19 6 10 17 94 65 26 6 2016 16 11 142 87 10 4 15 47 22 18 10 23 2017 19 17 13 9 7 35 88 92 30 30 3 23 Ave Veg Fire (2015 - 2017) 48 95 47 25 20 14 29 41 31 23 9 13 CONFIDENTIAL
Vegetation Fires in Singapore Aviation Park Fire Tampines Avenue 9 Fire Aug 2010 Feb 2009 Bukit Batok Forest Fire Punggol Sumang Walk Fire Feb 2009 Apr 2016 CONFIDENTIAL
Case Study 1 Vegetation Fire at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 23 Jun 2010 CONFIDENTIAL
Location of fire – peak of a small hill About 100 m away – Fire at another hilltop the previous year CONFIDENTIAL
Fire damage to surrounding area. Thick vegetation observed near fire scene. No sign of human activity found around the surrounding area. CONFIDENTIAL
Signs of branch struck by lightning at the area of origin. The edges have clean cut. CONFIDENTIAL
Verified with information from the Meteorological Service to conclude investigation findings. Any other signs of lightning activity? Source: Kirk’s Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL
Case Study 2 Vegetation Fire at Bedok Reservoir Park CONFIDENTIAL
Charring and curling of vegetation giving clues on the direction of fire. CONFIDENTIAL
Clear signs of human activity moving approaching the fire origin CONFIDENTIAL
Discovery of makeshift tentage for illicit activities CONFIDENTIAL
Discovery of makeshift tentage for illicit activities CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
Punggol Jetty Location of fire 8 km OBS Camp 1 Jetty
Sector 3 Sector 2 Sector 1 Sector 1 A total of 3 firefighting sections, 1 Special Rescue Unit platoon and 1 Marine Firefighting Vessel (MFV) were deployed to the incident. A key strategy was to 39/<Tot sectorise the incident site to cut off the fire spread. al>
Smoke Chaser Sector 1: Defensive Fire fighting To prevent fire spread into the OBS camp 1. Two 38mm jets using hydrants from OBS School 1. 2. 14 smoke chasers to extinguish pockets of fire.
Sector 2: Offensive Fire fighting 1. Two 38mm jets using water from Portable Pumps and Marine Firefighting Vessel (MFV). 2. MFV was also used for offensive and damping down operations.
Canvas Bucket Canvas Beater Sector 3: Offensive Fire fighting 1. One 64mm jet supplied with water from MFV 2. 4 canvas beaters 3. 2 canvas buckets 4. 7 smoke chasers used to extinguish pockets of fire
Findings and Follow Up Fire classified as accidental due to sunray. OBS enhanced their fire-fighting capability: a. Establish Company Emergency Response Team b. Added fire-fighting equipment such 2017 SCDF-OBS Joint Exercise as smoke chasers c. Annual joint exercise (GDX/TTX) d. Emergency Response Plan between SCDF and OBS CONFIDENTIAL
Advisories / Recommendations Public advised: • Not to throw lighted materials such as cigarette butts onto grass patches, fields and rubbish dumps. • Not to discard unwanted items such as furniture at grass areas. • To use incense burners while burning incense papers. • Home and land owners advised to create barriers, conduct their own patrols, and trim and water vegetation during dry seasons. • Home and land owners advised to ensure that the relevant fire-fighting facilities (eg. fire extinguishers) are readily available. CONFIDENTIAL
Advisories / Recommendations Source: NFPA Journal Jan / Feb 2018 CONFIDENTIAL
THANK YOU CONFIDENTIAL
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