MACHINERY
Fire danger F
RAB Easton on the threat of forest fires – and how we deal with them
orest fires are large, uncontrolled fires which are extremely difficult for fire fighters to contain due to the amount of dry, inflammable fuel found in the forest. They can have devastating effects on forests, woodland wildlife, forest dwellings and even human lives. When I was working for the Forestry Commission in the 1970s, one year we attended three forest fires in succession. The largest of the three was in Gwydyr Forest, close to Betws Y Coed in North Wales, and this fire was completely out of control. Forestry squads were drafted in from all over Wales to fight it and they were backed up by both the Fire Brigade and the Royal Engineers with Green Godess Fire Tenders. Hundreds of people were involved and it took al-
60 FORESTRY & TIMBER NEWS • December 2019
most two weeks to get it under control. With forest fires, the fight takes place on two fronts: the ground fire, which feeds on the combustible deadwood, mosses, grasses and peat found on the forest floor, and then the tree crown fire, which spreads from tree to tree depending on the direction of the wind. This is what makes tackling forest fires extremely difficult and dangerous as the two fires can spread in different directions. As a young, fit chainsaw operator, my duties were to fell trees in front of the fire to try and create a fire break; the idea was to create a gap wide enough to contain the spread of the crown fire. Sometimes the fire would travel faster than we anticipated and we would be engulfed in smoke, which was absolutely terrifying. I would find myself literally run-
ning for my life, unable to breathe or see properly while wearing full PPE and carrying felling accessories, a fuel combi can and my chainsaw. Hitting clean air was such a relief that I could almost cry – my heart felt like it was trying to burst out of my chest and every breath felt like it was scorching my lungs. Luckily, I have never attended fires as significant as this since then and there have not been as many big forest fires in the UK in recent years. However, this could all change in the future. There are factors we are unable to change which could contribute to an increase in forest fires in the coming years. Climate change will have a massive effect on our forests and there is nothing we can do to reverse this as the Earth’s climate system responds CONFOR.ORG.UK
