Wildland Fire Suppression Operations with Heavy Equipment in Spain.

Transcription

1 Wildland Fire Suppression Operations with Heavy Equipment in Spain. Abstract Juan Bautista García Egido 1 Domingo Molina Terrén 2 Juan Bautista García Egido Suppression operations in wildland fires have become more complex during recent decades, particularly with the inclusion of different equipments. Heavy equipment is actively involved in operations in many parts of the world; yet, is still relatively unknown to command officers involved in making decisions. There is certainly a lack of training in its use. A literature review of heavy equipment use in Spain (over the last 30 years), has been carried out to support ongoing training in the different Fire Agencies. This paper describes use and integration of heavy equipment in wildland fire suppression as it becomes an instrumental part of Fire Agencies. Additionally, I describe actions we use, in Spain, with very steep mountain slopes under a mosaic forest and brush, to improve safety, efficiency and effectiveness. I outline the various operations that can be executed with dozers and techniques that can be performed to attack head and flank fires in direct attack, as well as how to use it in both parallel and indirect attack. Moreover, I describe the value of building emergency road access for fire engines in remote forest areas and how we use heavy equipment to conduct forest restoration. Yields and costs of different machines are presented. Lastly, I present lessons learned from this author s experience using these equipments in the fuel types and fire behavior conditions that we find in Spain, and future challenges that we might face. Key words: heavy equipment, dozers, emergency operations, wildland fire suppression, Fire Agencies. 1. Use and integration of heavy equipment in wildland fire suppression in Spain. Historical background Heavy equipment is commonly used in wildland fire suppression in Spain implement fuel breaks and direct attack (to the perimeter): Additional tasks are common in forestry. The adaptation of such equipment to the forest environment and its use in other operations in the forest (thinning, logging, skidding, forwarding, earthmoving, etc.) made possible its eventual use in suppression operations from starting in United States and Canada from The use of heavy equipment in wildland fire suppression in Spain started in the provinces of Leon and Zamora, circa In those years, dozers began to be common in the forest, in several tasks as treating vegetation and soil for reforestation processes, opening firebreaks and access trails. At times, controlled burns of shrubs were performed prior to reforestations and dozers were used to perform professional firebreaks in order to facilitate control in the prescribed burning. Therefore, dozers were regularly used regularly in those two provinces, to secure or prepare controlled burns. In the early 1970s also came to be used in the direct attack in wildland fires. From there 1

2 dozers become popular in other provinces with intense reforestation activity carried out by Spanish Forest Service. Experience after 55 years using dozers ( ) in different provinces, made them an invaluable resource to control large fires. Currently there are about 68 heavy equipment sets working in suppression wildland fires in Spain contracted by the Fire Agencies in some regions (see details below), Castilla-La-Mancha, Castilla-y-León and Galicia are the three Spanish regions that stand out in number and use of heavy equipment sets. There is a lack of information and training dozer capabilities in different Fire Agencies. We need a thorough review of its capabilities, limitations and make them known to all senior and middle managers, thus involving a wide capacity improvement. That is, we need specific training to managers in this area. 2. Types of machines used in wildland fires in Spain. Heavy equipment teams Bulldozers are heavy equipment more widely known and most used in Spain in wildfire suppression. With the dozer blade, we can move earth and remove vegetation. On the back, you can have ripper, winch or different types or plow. You can also attach some other device such as grapples and water tanks but are much less common in wildfire suppression in Spain. Note that in Spain, we only use dozers because they are the most versatile machines, working in the higher steeper and able to implement the fuel break or fire line by themselves. Heavy equipment teams used on wildland fires in Spain are usually composed of a dozer, lowboy and all-terrain support vehicle. Each dozer is fitted with communications equipment and GPS. Their attached lowboy, approximate 16 meters in length, is equipped with communications equipment and flashing light. The support Allterrain vehicle carries a diesel tank of about 300 liter, pumping equipment to refuel the dozer and basic parts for tractor. All-terrain vehicle must carry communications equipment and flashing light. The dozer with mounted blade is permanently loaded on the lowboy, on alert 24 hours a day. This is required to improve the lessen the respond time in about 30 minutes (time required for loading tractor and assembling blade). A special driving permit is required to transport a dozer with mounted blade, as it is considered a wide load. In Spain in addition to the 68 heavy equipment teams employed by the Regional Fire Agencies, the Army through the Military Emergency Unit (UME) has 53 machines between dozers, loaders, backhoes, mini-loaders, dump trucks and heavy cranes (they can be used in other emergencies). Figure 1. Map showing the number of heavy equipment teams by Regions. Map: Juan José Fernández. 2

3 2.1. Human team. Training Personnel on heavy equipment sets (HES) consists of a dozer boss, machine operator and lowboy driver. A very important premise in the HES is the experience of all its members. The HES in which the dozer boss, machine operator and lowboy driver have experience (and are properly certified) guarantees safe transport, as well as effective and efficient suppression operations. Training is deemed necessary for the three components of the HES on the premise that the machine operator and lowboy driver work at the basic scale, and dozer boss would operate within the scale basic for managers. HES qualifications are at the levels 3 and 4 within the 5 level training and qualification system in Europe. 3. Suppression Operations in wildland fires in Spain Depending on fire characteristics (flame length and spread) and the environment where this develops (fuels, slope and rockiness), heavy equipment in Spain used techniques of direct attack, parallel and in some occasions indirect attack (NWCG definitions).the two basic functions performed by the heavy equipment are fuel removal and disposal of material which involves the blocking the oxygen to contact with fuels or both at once Direct Attack. Buried of the front and blocking oxygen to contact with fuels If fire behavior permits, the dozer carries out a direct attack. We must distinguish direct attack actions depending if fire spreads uphill or downhill. If fire spreads uphill, the dozer s fundamental role is pouring mineral soil over the ground fuels and therefore eliminating contact between the oxidizer (oxygen) and fuel. If we have several dozers on duty in a section of the fire perimeter, progress in direct attack can be continuous, alternate or opposite (figures 2, 3 and 4) depending on the arrangement and direction of advancement of the different machines. Aerial Resources 1º Dozer 2º Dozer Figures 2, 3, 4. Progress continuous, alternative and oppsite in direct attack. Juan Caamaño. 3

4 In the case of two or more dozers alternate advance work uncoupled moving in the same direction, leaving unanchored areas between them. This may be effective because it maximized the fire perimeter length suppressed by unit time, but may involve safety concerns by not providing proper anchoring for the equipments placed in the first position during in the early moments. Such operations can be combined with aerial resources means to stabilize and effectively monitor the buffer zone (minimizing safety concerns) until complete control of the perimeter. Aerial resources are planes or helicopters dropping retardant or water. The fire boss is able to monitoring the suppression and fire activity with the help of theses aerial resources Parallel or indirect attack The parallel attack with heavy equipment consists in opening lines removing ground and surface fuels and the first layers of earth to expose the mineral. In some cases, it may be supported by existing fuel breaks or existing roads (in this case would be actually an indirect attack). In short, we are looking for areas where they can produce good opportunities of suppression a relatively short distance from the flames. Noteworthy are the combined operations involving heavy equipment and technical fire (backfire or burning out). Just as in the direct attack if there are more than one dozer to run the fireline advancement may be continuous, alternate or opposite Control of fire perimeters Another work where the heavy equipment can be very effective at is in finishing up all fire perimeters stabilized or partially controlled previosuly. This usually happens when the fire perimeters are very long and in hard fuel models for hand-tool crews. One issue to be cautious is the formation of charcoal spots where much fuel was left buried. This may cause latter, new fire outcomes Creating access to other resources Another use of the heavy equipment in suppression is to facilitate access to certain areas inaccessible to other resources (fire engines and pick-up vehicles). In this way, water and firefighters can access to very difficult areas and from there carry out hose lines or incident and post-fire operations that are necessary (i.e. post-fire site rehabilitation). 4. Efficiency/Performance of lines implementation Performance yields are shown here from established literature. In Spain, we use Appendix D of the S-232 Dozer Boss Manual. According to the table for atractor Type 1 tractor performance would be m / hour, depending on fuel type; Type 2 tractor executes line at a production rate of m / hour. In the same manual, execution line yields are also displayed for a single dozer pass in m/hour, determined through a test carried out in the field and depending on the type of tractor (Type 1, 2 or 3), steepness of the slope in three categories, fuel models and if the tractor works uphill or downhill. In Spain, studies in Australia by McArthy et al. (2003) are also used. McArthy et al. (2003), determine the performance of various operations implemented in 103 wildfires between 1997 and

5 Form both works several premises can be stated: 1) Fireline construction rates decrease with increasing fuel load. 2) The steepness of the slope has an effect on production lines, particularly when working uphill. 3) The type of tractor determines that some are better suited than others for certain jobs, the heavier are faster in implementing fire lines than smaller ones. In heavily loaded fuel models heavy tractors (Type 1) are the most suitable. 4) Experienced certified machine operators, especially in difficult terrain and vegetation, they are substantially faster in the construction of lines that inexperienced operators. 5) The amount of rocks along line significantly reduces performance. In Spain, data available on bulldozer production rate under diverse fuel model determined by Ayala and Holguin (2000). This authors depends on if the line is constructed on contour lines or downhill, obtained values very similar results to those determined in United States and Australia. Table 1. Performance of construction of control lines (in Spain) with dozer according Ayala and Holguin (2000) in "La defensa contra incendios forestales. Fundamentos y experiencias". FUEL MODEL VEGETATION DESCRIPTION Yields km/hr IN CONTOUR LINE Yields km/hr IN DOWNHILL OPERATIONS 4 Shrubs> 2 m 0,5-1 1,5 5 y 6 Shrubs < 1 m 1, Shrubs de 0,5-2 m in conifers 0, y 9 Forest of conifers 0,50 0,7 10 Forest with debris 0,30 0,5 11 Forest clear 0,40 0,6 12 y 13 Debris predominant 0,70 0,9 Yields calculated in 5 fires in Castilla-La Mancha (2005 to 2015), range between 500 and 1987 m/hr in different slopes and fuel models. 5. Costs The service dozer and lowboy prices, for 10 hours in the presence of the team and 24 hours of on call availability with two full shifts machine operator and lowboy driver range from (Prices of Dozer Service in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) for 2012): - Dozer type 1> 200 hp: The hourly cost of the dozer and lowboy is about 87.2 /hour. - Dozer type 2 <200 hp: The hourly cost of the dozer and lowboy is about 72.1 /hour. The price of the extra hour in suppression tasks for dozer type 1> 200 CV: 75 /hour + VAT = /hour. (1 Euro=$1.11 USD or $1.44C CAD). Most Technical Conditions of the Heavy Equipment in different Regions in Spain the also has a portion of work by hours, hectares or linear meters, to review firebreaks or improvement of roads. Dozer production rate in Spain, determined by Ayala and Holguin (2000), can be determined operational costs, applying the price extra hour of (track-type tractor Type 1). Therefore these operational costs would range between 30 /km-303 /km. 5

6 6. Actions to ensure the intrinsic safety of the heavy equipment used in suppression wildland fires Heavy equipment must have CE declaration of conformity and CE labeling (European regulation requirements, This statement and this labeling shall conform to RD 1435/1992 (Spanish legislation) modified by RD 56/1995 if the first market and/or putting into service in Spain is between 1/1/1997 and 29/12/2009. If the first market and/or putting into service in Spain is later than 29/12/2009, the CE declaration of conformity and CE labeling shall conform to the RD 1644/1997. These machines shall be fitted with ROPS and FOPS ( type properly certified according to the harmonized standard was applicable to it. They should be subject to a preventive maintenance program according to manufacturer's instructions, ensuring that the initial compliance lasts throughout the life of the machine. Workers exposed to risks from the use of these machines, shall be trained about the risks and prevention measures to be taken. A Senior Technician in Occupational Health and Safety, taking into account the criteria of the Spanish legislation, shall assess the risk of the work equipment (machine, etc.) and qualify the ability of the means of prevention used in that team to control those risks. 7. Lessons learned in Spain, by the author Lessons learned from the use of dozers in suppression of wildland fires for 15 years in Spain established: - Heavy Equipment Sets (HES) are highly adapted to the forest environment and to wildland fires. They have an excellent great grip and stability on steep slopes, slippery surfaces and rough land. They have greater maneuverability than other resources. - HES are able to handle direct attacks on high intensity fireline wildland fires. - HES are used to implement emergency road access. - HES are used to save time and hours of manual work in fire line control; therefore, unloading work to be allocated to other tasks. - HES perform fire line control faster and in a less expensive manner. - HES eliminate part of safety iusses by reducing the number of people in your work area. - In Spain, it is necessary to establish a training program for dozer boss, machine operators, and lowboy drivers to standardize and rank their capabilities (as regulated the Regional Fire Agencies) so they can fit into a system like the Incident Command System (ICS). - In order to successfuly introduction the HES and be truly effective it is also necessary to train middle managers and command officers in the equipment characteristics, types, potential utilities and integration within suppression operations. - The integration of the figure of Strike Team Heavy Equipment in the Incident Command System of the Regional Governments is necessary. - Investigation of accidents (and near-hits) involving heavy 6

7 equipment is needed in order to establish the causes and resulting conclusions. 8. Future challenges (innovation and development) Innovation Projects and Development can make these HES able to work with greater performance, efficiency and safety in the close future. Therefore, it is important to learn about the current lines of work that can have further development in the future are used. Here are some realities that are already or can be short and medium term are detailed. Development of safety equipments such as fire shelters, fire curtains, oxygen bottles. Development tools such as water tanks approved for dozers and forwarders. Implements as AquaDozer, are developed to achieve the CE label makes present their approval from the point of view of workers safety. The availability of water can increase operability of the dozer by lowering fire intensity on the flanks and heads of fires during direct attack. This will reduce the risks of accidents, damage to machinery and injuries to fire fighters Remote Control assumes some of the newer challenges today for application to firefighting. Currently it is being used in mining widely, essential to collect piles of coal and other minerals. Its first use was in New Guinea in 1989 and marketed since 2003 in various models of Caterpillar and Komatsu. The USDA Forest Service has funded a pilot project on remote control dozers for use in wildland fires. In Spain an example of remote control over a machine chains is small Dronster VF designed by Vallfirest, S.L. ( Finally the possibility of conducting machine driver training in simulated virtual environments can provide the experience and the necessary training in suppression wildland fires, made it difficult to carry out in real environments and makes difficult the formation of new generations machine operators specialized in wildland fires. This would solve the doubts of many Regional Fires Agencies about hiring such equipment with qualified and experienced staff. Bulldozer simulators are very advanced in mining, as developed by Caterpillar Simulation, Simulation Thoroughtec and in Spain by the Santa Barbara Foundation. In the case of simulators which also includes the simulation of forest fires include SEILAF, S.A. ( as a virtual training environment that also integrates other participating units in suppression wildland fires, a stage that reproduces what really happens in wildland fires. Literature Cited McCarhty G., Tolhurst K., Wouters M Prediction of firefighting resources for suppression operations in Victoria s parks and forests. Fire Management Department of Sustainability and Environment. Victoria National Wildfire Coordination Group Dozer boss student workbook Appendix D. NWCG, Distance Learning Unit. National Interagency Fire Center. Boise, Idaho Ayala R., Holguin, M.A Maquinaria pesada: su uso en la extinción de incendios forestales. In: La defensa contra incendios forestales. Fundamentos y experiencias. (Velez, R. ed.) McGraw-Hill. Madrid 7