Forest Fires in the Russian Taiga:

Chapter IY Forest Fires

Lesson 1

Forest Fires – An Overview

Terms and expressions

fire management	–организация мер по предупреждению и тушению пожаров
fire suppression	– тушение пожаров
fire prevention	– предупреждение пожаров
natural fire	– пожар, вызванный природными условиями
lightning	– загорание от молнии
spontaneous combustion	– самовозгорание
firefighting authorities	– противопожарные службы
“fire triangle”	– триада факторов, вырывающих пожар
smoldering fire	– тлеющий пожар
flaming combustion	– горение с языками пламени
glowing combustion	– пылающий пожар
ground fire	– низовой пожар
surface fire	– наземный (напочвенный) пожар
crown fire	– верховой пожар
extinguish a fire	– тушить пожар
fire fighters	– пожарники
suppression methods	– методы тушения
rugged terrain	– сильно пересеченная местность
digging trenches	– траншеекопатели
water backpacks	– ранцы с водой
firebreaks	– противопожарная полоса
fire retardant chemicals	– химические ингибиторы горения
burn debris	– сжигать лесосечные отходы
composting	– компостирование
flammable	– воспламеняемый
keep handy	– иметь в распоряжении
water hose	– водяной шланг
power saw	– моторная пила
fire extinguisher	– огнетушитель
forest slash	– сухостой

Introductory exercises

1. Переведите устно (рекомендуется для перевода с «листа»):

Forest Fires in the Russian Taiga:

Forest Fires - An Overview

How Forest Fires Start

Forest fires always start by one of two ways - naturally caused or human caused. Natural fires are generally started by lightning, with a very small percentage started by spontaneous combustion of dry fuel such as sawdust and leaves. On the other hand, human-caused fires can be due to any number of reasons. Some classifications include smoking, recreation, equipment, and miscellaneous. Human-caused fires constitute the greater percentage of forest fires in our forests, but natural fires constitute the great majority of the total area burned. This is because human-caused fires are usually detected early in their duration, and therefore they are usually contained easily. Natural fires, on the other hand, can burn for hours before being detected by firefighting authorities.

How Forest Fires Burn

There are three elements that are required for a forest fire to burn: Heat, Oxygen, and Fuel. This is the so-called "fire triangle". Without all three of these elements, the fire will go out. Furthermore, the fire will spread in the direction of the most abundant supply of the three elements, while its rate of combustion is usually limited by one of the three elements. Once the fire enters the combustion stage, there are three main types of classifications for the fire. A smoldering fire is one that emits smoke but no flame and is rarely self-sustained. A fire is classified as flaming combustion when flames are present. Charcoal can be formed in the absence of oxygen with this type of fire. Glowing combustion is a later stage of the fire and is characterized by a slower rate of combustion and blue flame. Forest fires can also be classified by what part of the forest they burn in:

* Ground fires occur on the ground, often below the leaves.

* Surface fires occur on the surface of the forest up to 1.3 meters high.

* Crown fires are the most dangerous fires and can spread the fastest. They occur in the tops of the trees. They can be: (a) dependent upon surface fires to burn the crowns, (b) active in which they occur at the same rate as surface fires, or (c) the most destructive, independent, where fire can "jump" from crown to crown.

It is not uncommon for two or three types of fires to occur simultaneously.

Fighting Forest Fires

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of fighting forest fires is communication. It is vital that the proper authorities be notified as soon as possible when a fire occurs. Obviously, a fire, that is detected in its early stages will be much easier to extinguish than a fire that has been burning for some time but has only just been discovered because of lack of communication. Once a fire has been detected, the fire fighters must be transported to the fire and then apply suppression methods.

Transport and Suppression

One difficulty in fighting forest fires is transporting the firefighters to the fire. Obviously, wildland fires often occur in rather rugged terrain, so fire fighters often have to be transported in by air and then walk with their equipment overland. Once crews are to the fire, the suppression method they use depends on the type of fire.

* Ground fires are often best controlled by digging trenches in the soil layer.

* Portable water backpacks and firebreaks are often the most effective methods at controlling surface fires.

* Lastly, if a fire escalates to a crown fire, aerial support is used to suppress the fire with fire retardant chemicals and/or water. However, these fires are often very dangerous and human life always comes first in fire fighting; sometimes these fires are just allowed to burn until they run out of dry fuel.

Forest Fire Prevention

Grass fires are a major concern for firelighters in early spring; they get quickly out of control and can cause serious damage in agricultural and forested lands. Forest fire officials encourage people not to light grass fires or burn debris. Burning dry grass in fields or yard debris can spread to nearby forests.

Consider no-burn options. Many landfills offer designated days when yard debris can be disposed of at little or no cost. Many "how to" publications and advice are available about composting. On-site chipping may be feasible. Limbs and other debris may be piled for wildlife habitat if located where it does not pose a wildfire hazard.

Carelessly lit and tended campfires and smoking are another major concern throughout the burning season.

Every year, countless acres of forests are burned because of human carelessness. To help prevent fires in or near forest land during the forest fire season, the following steps should be followed:

1. Check local regulations regarding permit requirements and "burn ban" restrictions. These are available from your municipality, fire department or department of natural resources. They may include:

a. Obtaining a burning permit for burning grass, brush, slash or other debris in or within a prescribed distance of forest land;

b. A campfire permit and the landowner's permission for an open campfire, cooking fire or bonfire in or near forest land;

c. A work permit for any work in forest land involving two or more people.

2. Bum only natural vegetation or untreated wood products.

3. Burn piles are at least 50 feet from structures and 500 feet from any forest slash.

4. Clear the area around the burn pile of any flammable debris.

5. Keep firefighting equipment handy - a connected water hose or at least five gallons of water and a shovel should be nearby.

6. Don't burn if it's too windy to burn - if trees are swaying, flags are extended, or waves appear on open water.

7. Be prepared to extinguish the fire if it becomes a nuisance.

8. Attend the fire until it is completely out.

9. Smoking should not be done while moving from one place to another in forest land. Make sure your butt is out - "dead out!"

10. Power saws must have a proper muffler and be accompanied by a round point shovel or fire extinguisher.

11. Cars, trucks and machinery must have  proper  exhaust  systems  when

operated in or near forest land. Exhaust spark arresters are a requirement on certain machines.

12. Know your local emergency telephone number if a fire becomes uncontrollable.

4. Переведите вопросы и ответьте на них:

1. How do forest fires start?

2. What is the cause of natural fires?

3. What can human – caused fires be due to?

4. Why are human – caused fires usually contained easily?

5.  What are three elements required for a forest fire to burn?

6.  What are tree main types of classifications for the fire?

7. How can a smoldering fire characterized?

8. What is ground /surface/ crown fire? Characterize them, please!

9. What are the difficulties in fighting forest fires?

5. Переведите на слух:

Dry fuel such as sawdust and leaves; выявлять на ранней стадии; the rate of combustion; стадия возгорания; to emit smoke but no flame; низовой пожар; to occur on the surface of the forest; верховой пожар; to spread the forests; тушение пожаров; to transport the firefighters to the fire; бригады пожарников; portable water backpacks; выходить из под контроля; forest fire officials; сжигать сухую траву; to consider no-burn options; представлять угрозу; careless lit and tended campfires; сухостой; flammable debris; тушить окурки; exhaust spark arresters.

6. Переведите устно (рекомендуется для зрительно-устного перевода «с листа» с подготовкой или без подготовки):

Wildfires are common in many places around the world, including much of the vegetated areas of Australia, ‘veld’ of South Africa, forest areas of the United States and Canada, where the climates are sufficiently moist to allow the growth of trees, but feature extended dry, hot periods when fallen branches, leaves, and other material can dry out and become highly flammable. Wildfires are also common in grasslands and scrublands. Wildfires tend to be most common and severe during years of drought and occur on days of strong winds. With extensive urbanization of wildlands, these fires often involve destruction of suburban homes located in the wildland urban interface, a zone of transition between developed areas and undeveloped wildland.

Today it is accepted that wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem of wildlands, where, at the least, plants have evolved to survive fires by a variety of strategies (from possessing reserve shoots that sprout after a fire, to fire-resistant seeds), or even encourage fire (for example eucalypts contain flammable oils in the leaves) as a way to eliminate competition from less fire-tolerant species. In 2004, researchers discovered that exposure to smoke from burning plants actually promotes germination in other types of. Most native animals, too, are adept at surviving wildfires.

On occasions, wildfires have caused large-scale damage to private or public property, destroying many homes and causing deaths, particularly when they have reached urban-fringe communities.

The aftermath of a wildfire can be as disastrous if not more so than the fire. A particularly destructive fire burns away plants and trees that prevent erosion. If heavy rains occur after such a fire, landslides, ash flows, and flash floods can occur. This can result in property damage outside the immediate fire area, and can affect the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes.

Wildfires burned long before humans evolved. One main component of Carboniferous north hemisphere coal is charcoal left over by forest fires. The earliest known evidence of a wildfire dates back to Late Devonian period (about 365 million years ago).

When the water reserves in the soil are  between 100 % and 30 %,  the

evaporation of water in plants is balanced by water absorbed from the soil. Below this threshold, the plants dry out and under stress release the flammable gas ethane (ethylene). A consequence of a long hot and dry period is therefore that the air contains flammable essences and plants are drier and highly flammable.

The propagation of the fire has three mechanisms:

* "crawling" fire: the fire spreads via low level vegetation (e.g., bushes);

* "crown" fire: a fire that "crowns" (spreads to the top branches of trees) can spread at an incredible pace through the top of a forest. Crown fires can be extremely dangerous to all inhabitants underneath, as they may spread faster than they can be outrun, particularly on windy days;

* "jumping" or "spotting" fire: burning branches and leaves are carried by the wind and start distant fires; the fire can thus "jump" over a road, river, or even a firebreak.

The Nevada Bureau of Land Management identifies several different wildfire behaviors. For example, extreme fire behavior includes wide rates of spread, the presence of fire whirls, or a strong convection column. Extreme wildfires behave erratically and unpredictably.

In southern California, under the influence of Santa Ana winds, wildfires can move at tremendous speeds, up to 40 miles (60 km) in a single day, consuming up to 1,000 acres (4 km²) per hour. Dense clouds of burning embers push relentlessly ahead of the flames crossing firebreaks without pauses.

The powerful updraft caused by a large wildfire will draw in air from surrounding areas. These self-generated winds can lead to a phenomenon known as a firestorm.

French models of wildfires dictate that a fire's front line will take on the characteristic shape of a pear; the major axis being aligned with the wind. In the case of the fires in southeastern France, the speed of the fire is estimated to be 3% to 8% of the speed of the wind, depending on the conditions (density and type of vegetation, slope). Other models predict an elliptical shape when the ground is flat and the vegetation is homogeneous.

Another type of wildfire is the smouldering fire. It involves the slow combustion of surface fuels without generating flame, spreading slowly and steadily. It can linger for days or weeks after flaming has ceased, resulting in potential large quantities of fuel consumed and becoming a global source of emissions to the atmosphere. It heats the duff and mineral layers,affecting the roots, seeds and plant stems at the ground.

Fires play an important role in the natural changes that occur in Earth's ecosystems. The diversity of plant and animal life in the world's forests, prairies, and wetlands is (partly) dependent on the effects of fire; in fact, some plants cannot reproduce without fire. Fire initiates critical natural processes by breaking down organic matter into soil nutrients. Rain then moves these nutrients back into the soil providing a rejuvenated fertile seedbed for plants. With less competition and more sunlight, seedlings grow more quickly. Wild animals deal with fire remarkably well. Birds fly out of the fire area, large animals leave the danger zone by escaping to ponds and streams, while others return to their burrows. Usually few animals are killed by fire.

Prescribed fire is one of the most important tools used today to manage Earth's diverse ecosystems. A scientific prescription, prescribed fires help create a mosaic of diverse habitats for plants and animals. If all fire is suppressed, fuel (grasses, needles, leaves, brush, and fallen trees) can build up and allow larger, and sometimes uncontrollable, fires to occur. If enough fuel builds up, the fires could be so intense that they may destroy the seeds in the soil and hinder new tree and plant growth. By burning away accumulated fuels, planned fires make landscapes safer for future natural fires.

State of the science. By 1990, global tropical deforestation was occurring

at a rate of about 1.8 percent of the world's total forest lands per year. Approximately 142,000 square kilometers of rainforest are eliminated annually - an area slightly larger than the state of Arkansas. Using data from satellite sensors, aircraft, and ground-based initiatives, scientists are working to develop a new global fire monitoring program that will enable them to better understand the myriad implications of this growing problem. Specifically, efforts are underway to quantify the total area of forests and grass land burned each year and to more precisely estimate the amount of resulting emission products. These newer and better data will facilitate development of more robust computer models that will enhance scientists' abilities to predict how biomass burning will impact climate, the environment, and air quality.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, humans have transformed about 40 percent of Earth's land surface and have increased carbon dioxide levels by about 25 percent. Scientists estimate that from 1850 to 1980, between 90 and 120 billion metric tons (90-120 trillion kilograms) of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere from tropical forest fires. Comparatively, during that same time period, an estimated 165 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide were added to the atmosphere by industrial nations through the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Today, an estimated 5.6 gigatons of carbon are released into the atmosphere each year due to fossil fuel burning. Burning of tropical forests contributes another 2.4 gigatons of carbon per year; or, about 30 percent of the total. Over the last decade, it seems that the regional distribution of biomass burning has increased worldwide, as well as the length of burning time. The result is a continuing increase in the release of emission products, and an increase in the severity of their impact on climate and on the environment. Scientists estimate that in just a few months the burning that took place in 1997 in Indonesia released as many greenhouse gases as all the cars and power plants in Europe emit in an entire year. After carbon dioxide, the most significant greenhouse gas is methane, another emission product from biomass burning (about 10 percent globally). Although methane is about 200 times less abundant than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, molecule for molecule methane is 20 times more effective at trapping heat. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, methane has doubled in the troposphere.

Additionally, its concentration has been increasing about 1 percent per year, so scientists are concerned that its relative significance as a greenhouse gas may dramatically increase in the future, although there are indications that this increase may have slowed down in the last decade. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) concentrations have been increasing at about 0.3 percent per year for the last several decades. Yet, nitrous oxide has a lifetime of 150 years in the atmosphere, which contrasts sharply with the 10-year lifetime of methane. A single nitrous oxide molecule is the equivalent of 206 carbon dioxide molecules in terms of its greenhouse gas effect. Biomass burning accounts for about 2-3 percent of the total amount of tropospheric nitrous oxide. Emissions of nitrous oxides and methane are further associated with the production of tropospheric ozone. Unlike "good" ozone in the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) that acts as a shield to screen out the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, ozone in the troposphere is a pollutant that, when breathed, damages lung tissue and is also harmful to plants.

Greenhouse gases - such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide - are mostly "transparent" to incoming solar radiation; that is, they rarely interact with sunlight. However, these gases are very efficient at trapping heat radiated from the Earth's surface by absorbing and re-emitting it. There is a wide margin of error in the estimates of biomass burning given above significantly more error than in our estimates of industrial emissions.

     7. Переведите письменно текст, расположив абзацы в логической последовательности:

Ecosystem effects of fire

Forest fires have many implications for biological diversity. At the global scale, they are а significant source of emitted carbon, contributing to global warming which could lead to biodiversity changes. At the regional and local level, they lead to change in biomass stocks, alter the hydrological cycle with subsequent effects for marine systems such as coral reefs, and impact plant and animal species' functioning. Smoke from fires can significantly reduce photosynthetic activity (Davies and Unam, 1999) and can be detrimental to health of humans and animals.

One of the most important ecological effects of burning is the increased probability of further burning in subsequent years, as dead trees topple to the ground, opening up the forest to drying by sunlight, and building up the fuel load with an increase in fire-prone species, such as pyrophytic grasses. The consequence of repeated burns is detrimental because it is а key factor in the impoverishment of biodiversity in rain forest ecosystems. Fires can be followed be insect colonization and infestation which disturb the ecological balance.

The replacement of vast areas of forest with pyrophytic grasslands is one of the most negative ecological impacts of fires in tropical rain forests. These processes have already been observed in parts of Indonesia and Amazonia (Turvey, 1994; Cochrane et al., 1999; Nepstad, Moreira and Alencar, 1999). What was once а dense evergreen forest becomes an impoverished forest populated by а few fire-resistant tree species and а ground cover of weedy grasses (Cochrane et al., 1999). In North Queensland in Australia, it has been observed that where the aboriginal fire practices and fire regimes were controlled, rain forest vegetation started to replace the fire-prone tree-grass savannahs (Stocker, 1981).

On plant diversity

Wildfire is unusual in most undisturbed, tall, closed-canopy, tropical rain forests because of the moist microclimate, moist fuels, low wind speeds and high rainfall. However,  rain forests may become more susceptible to  fire

during severe droughts, as experienced during ЕI Nino years.

In these forests which are not adapted to fire, fire can kill virtually all seedlings, sprouts, lianas and young trees because they are not protected by thick bark. Damage to the seed bank, seedlings and saplings hinders recovery of the original species (Woods, 1989). The degree of recovery and need for rehabilitation interventions depends on the intensity of burning (Schindele, Thoma and Panzer, 1989).

Tropical forests are also subject to fires started by humans for agricultural clearing. Deforestation fires, which are more common in disturbed forests, can vary in intensity and burn standing trees, at the worst completely burning the forest leaving nothing but bare soil.

There is some concern that salvage logging (removal of dead timber from severely burned logged-over forest or burned primary forest), used as а management and financing tool after fires in Indonesia in 1997-1998, may adversely affect the course of vegetation succession (van Nieuwstadt, Sheil and Kaгtawinata, 2001).Although fire is а frequent natural disturbance in boreal forests and they usually regenerate easily after fire, frequent high-intensity fires can offset this balance. As а result of extremely severe fires in the Russian Federation in 1998, more than 2 million hectares of forest have lost most of their major ecological functions for а period of 50 to 100 years (Shvidenko and Goldammer, 2001). Severe fires have had а significant negative impact on plant diversity. Southern species that are at the northern edge of their geographic range are particularly vulnerable. For example, in Primorsky Кrаy (Russian Federation), human-induced fires have contributed to drastic reductions in the populations of 60 species of vascular plants, ten fungi, eight lichens and six species of mosses during the past two or three decades (Shvidenko and Goldammer, 2001).

Loss of food

Loss of fruit-trees results in overall decline in bird and animal species that rely on fruits for food; this effect is particularly pronounced in tropical forests. А few months after the 1982-1983 fires in Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan, fruit-eating birds such as hornbills declined dramatically, and only insectivorous birds such as woodpeckers were common because of the abundance of wood-eating insects.

Burned forests become impoverished of small mammals, birds and reptiles, and carnivores tend to avoid burned over areas. The reduction in densities of small mammals such as rodents can adversely affect the food supply for small carnivores.

Fires also destroy leaf litter and its associated arthropod community, further reducing food availability for omnivores and carnivores (Kinnaird and O'Brien, 1998).

Fire-adapted fauna

Not all species suffer from fire. For instance,  grass-layer beetle species in

Australia's savannahs show remarkable resilience to fire, although fires affect abundance, species and family richness (Orgeas and Andersen, 2001).

In the fire-prone Mediterranean region, the current fire regime has probably contributed to maintaining the bird diversity at the landscape level in Portugal (Moreira et а/., 2001). In Israel, richness of fauna species in certain areas was the highest two to four years after а fire followed by а decrease over time (Kutiel, 1997).

Fire can have positive effects on wildlife populations in boreal forests, where fire is а major natural disturbance mechanism. In North America, although moose are occasionally trapped and killed by fire, fire generally enhances moose habitat by creating and maintaining seral communities, and is considered beneficial to moose populations (MacCracken and Viereck, 1990). The beneficial effects of fire on its habitat is estimated to last less than 50 years, with moose density peaking 20 to 25 years following fire (LeResche, Bishop and Coady, 1974).

Fire has contributed to the reduction in populations of grey wolf (Caпis lupus) in Minnesota, United States, by limiting its prey - including beaver (Castor caпadieпsis), moose and deer, fire dependent species that require the plant communities that persist following frequent fires (Кrаmр, Patton and Brady, 1983).

Forest Fires

In the summer of 2003 British Columbia experienced a severe fire season. Tens of thousands of residents living in southern BC were displaced from their homes as forest fires ripped through wooded residential areas. The loss of homes and the destruction of thousands of hectares of forests caused many people to ask questions and search for answers. Why did this happen? Can we prevent fires of this magnitude in the future? Can we do anything differently?

The severe fire season in the summer of 2003 requires a careful analysis of the disparate factors that contributed to these events. We need a thorough understanding of the history and ecology of fire management and suppression in British Columbia before we can arrive at thoughtful conclusions that will help us to protect our public forests and the people who live near and in wooded areas.

It is often said that forestry is the engine that drives BC's economy. Although not as true in 2003 as it once was, it is not surprising that most British Columbians have some familiarity with the nature of the forests that surround our towns, villages and cities. Because BC's population is concentrated on or near the southern coast, the forests with which most people are most familiar are the majestic ancient temperate rainforest valleys. This summer, however people became aware of the equally vast stretches of "fire forest" in the province's southern interior.

Rainforests and the drier interior forests are both intricate forested ecosystems that support wildlife and a variety of plant and trees species that are specifically adapted to the different ecological conditions of these geographic areas. As the name implies, rain (and lots of it) is absolutely critical to the health and ecology of the rainforest. In the fire forest of BC's southern interior it is fire that provides one of the essential conditions for a healthy forest.

When humans think of fire, they tend to think of destruction and devastation which in part explains why the provincial government has historically pursued a policy of fire suppression in all the province's forests since the major forestry companies arrived after the Second World War. The theory, popularized in the United States by Smokey the Bear, was that fires were a threat to forest health and suppressing fires would leave trees standing for logging later.

By actively suppressing forest fires the government has unwittingly contributed to a scenario where underbrush, ingrowth of saplings and dense reforestation have created conditions where catastrophic fires become inevitable. By changing the fire regime in the southern interior's forests we have done exactly the opposite of what was intended.

Frequent, low severity restorative surface fires that contribute positively to forest health and leaves trees standing have been replaced by less frequent, catastrophic fires that burn through the crowns of trees, incinerate soil and threaten human life and property.

Another effect of suppression in BC's southern  interior fire  forests has

been greatly reduced resistance to massive insect infestation such as we've seen with the mountain pine beetle.

The normal fire regime must be returned to the southern interior forests if we are to minimize the risk of another season of catastrophic fires such as we have seen in 2003. Restoring ecological balance will ultimately result in naturally diverse forests that are more resistant to fire, insects and disease, as well as forests that provide far better wildlife habitat. Human interfaces, areas where development such as houses intersect with forests, need to be carefully considered in building codes to reduce future risk to human life and property.

Below you will find more information on this year's forest fires, fire ecology and what can be done to help BC's southern interior forests return to a state closer to their natural ecology.

How do forest fires start?

- The majority of forest fires start from lightning strikes hitting dry "fuel”, the accumulated dry grass, brush, shrubs, small trees or 'slash' (the woody debris, branches, leaves and stumps, that is left behind after logging);

- Human caused forest fires generally account for 2 in 5 forest fires.

Frequency and severity?

- Every year for the past decade global temperatures have climbed. In BC the Okanagan is warming at twice the global rate as well as experiencing a four year drought. This has allowed the abnormally large fuel build-up from fire suppression policies to dry out faster increasing susceptibility to severe forest fires.

Or severity of fires?

- In addition to fire suppression, clearcut logging and replanting regulations in BC's southern interior fire forests have contributed to fire susceptibility. For example, ponderosa pine savannas, once common in the interior, typically have about 35 trees per hectare. When these trees are cut, they are replanted with a minimum density of 900 trees per hectare. The result is an unnaturally dense forest that can not be supported by the soils or precipitation in the area, resulting in an even drier unhealthy forest;

Forest policies have also been turning coastal and inland temperate rainforests into fire forests through clearcut logging. Second-growth forests planted after coastal forest clearcuts tend to be even aged stands, very close together, with a lot of branches that act as "fire ladders."

Lesson  2

Forest Fire Suppression

Terms and expressions

prescribed burning	– преднамеренное использование огня на территории при контроле за его интенсивностью
forest floor	– верхний слой лесной почвы
combat wildfires	– бороться с лесными пожарами
lookout towers	– пожарные вышки
report a fire	– сообщать о пожаре
accessibility	– доступность
a fire site	– место/ очаг пожара
ground transport	– наземный транспорт
“smokejumpers”	– «воздушные» пожарники
evolution of the fire	– распространение пожара
to be starved of fuel	– испытывать недостаток топлива
pumps	– насосы
aerial bombing with water	– тушение пожара с воздуха
controlled burns	– контролируемые пожары
to reduce underbrush	– уменьшить подлесок, подрост
fuel buildup	– накопление горючих материалов
fire frequency	– частота пожаров
devasting fires	– разрушительные пожары
flame – resistant	–пожаростойкий
fire – prone areas	– области, подверженные риску пожаров
water – spraying firetruck	– пожарные машины с гидрантами
fast attack team	– команда быстрого реагирования
shovel	– лопата
rakes	– пожарные грабли
hot shot crews	– команды, работающие в «горячих точках»
to douse areas	– орошать территории

 

Introductory exercises

FOREST FIRE SUPPRESSION

Fighting the fire

Ground Fires. Ground fires, which burn on the ground or below ground vegetation, are often best controlled by digging trenches or "firelines" down into the mineral soil layer, which cannot bum. When the fire reaches the fireline, it is starved of fuel and extinguishes itself.

Surface Fires. Fighting of surface fires, which burn along the surface and tend to move quicker, require more manpower and equipment. Portable water backpacks and pumps (where a water supply is available), and firebreaks are the preferred methods. These can be very labor-intensive methods except in instances where machinery is available to clear bush for the firebreaks.

Crown Fires. Crown fires are most dangerous and spread the fastest. They occur in the tops of the trees where fire can "jump" from crown to crown, often jumping over firebreaks. Crown fires in extremely windy conditions have been known to jump rivers and even lakes.

Fighting crown fires usually calls for extreme measures, generally calling for aerial bombing with water and/or fire retardant chemicals.

For many decades the policy of the United States Forest Service was to suppress all fires, and this policy was epitomized by the mascot Smokey Bear and was also the basis of parts of the movie Bambi. The policy began to be questioned in the 1960s, when it was realized that no new Giant Sequoia had been grown in the forests of California, because fire is an essential part of their life cycle. This produced the policy of controlled burns to reduce underbrush. This clears much of the undergrowth through forest and woodland areas, making travel and hunting much easier while reducing the risk of dangerous high-intensity fires caused by many years of fuel buildup.

The previous policy of absolute fire suppression in the United States has resulted in the buildup of fuel in some ecosystems such as dry ponderosa pine forests. However, this concept has been misapplied in a "one-size-fits-all" application to other ecosystems such as California chaparral. Fire suppression in southern California has had very little impact over the past century. The amount of land burned- in 6 southern California counties has been relatively unchanged. In fact, fire frequency has been increasing dramatically over the past century in lock step with population growth. Urbanization can also result in fuel buildup and devastating fires, such as those in Los Alamos, New Mexico, East Bay Hills, within the California cities of Oakland and Berkeley between October 19 and 22, 1991, all over Colorado in 2002, and throughout southern California in October 2003. Homes designed without considering the fire prone environment in which they are built have been the primary reason for the catastrophic losses experienced in wildfires.

On average, wildfires burn 4.3 million acres (17,000 km²) in the United States annually. In recent years the federal government has spent $1 billion a year on fire suppression. 2002 was a record year for fires with major fires in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon.

The risk of major wildfires can be reduced partly by a reduction of the amount of fuel present. In wildland, this can be accomplished by either conducting controlled burns, deliberately setting areas ablaze under less dangerous weather when conditions are less volatile or physical fuel removal by removing some trees as is conducted in many American forests. Such techniques are best used within the wildland urban interface. Prescribed burns in the backcountry, away from human habitations, are not particularly effective in preventing large fires. All the large catastrophic fires in the United States have been wind driven events where the amount of fuel (trees, shrubs, etc.) has not been the most important factor in fire spread.

People living in fire-prone areas typically take a variety of precautions, including building their homes out of flame-resistant materials, reducing the amount of fuel near the home or property (including firebreaks, their own miniature control lines, in effect), and investing in their own firefighting equipment.

Rural farming communities are rarely threatened directly by wildfire. These types of communities are usually located in large areas of cleared, usually grazed, land, and in the drought conditions present in wildfire years there is often very little grass left on such grazed areas. Hence the risk is minimized. However, urban fringes have spread into forested areas, for example in Sydney and Melbourne, and communities have literally built themselves in the middle of highly flammable forests. In Cape Town, the city lies on the fringe of the Table Mountain National Park. These communities are at high risk of destruction in bushfires, and should take extra precautions.

There are quite a few US states, Canadian provinces and many countries around the world that still use Fire lookouts as a means of early detection of forest fires. Some nations still using this system besides the US and Canada include: Israel, Latvia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand and Australia.

Wildland fire suppression is a unique aspect of firefighting. Most fire-prone areas have large firefighter services to help control bushfires. As well as the water-spraying firetrucks most commonly used in urban firefighting, bushfire services use a variety of alternative techniques. Typically, forest fire fighting organizations will use large crews of 20 or more people who travel in trucks to the fire. These crews use heavier equipment to construct firebreaks, and are the mainstay of most firefighting efforts. Other personnel are organized into fast attack teams typically consisting of 5-8 people. These fast attack teams are helicoptered into smaller fires or hard to reach areas as a preemptive strike force. They use portable pumps to douse small fires and chainsaws to construct firebreaks or helicopter landing pads if more resources are required. Hand tools are commonly used to construct firebreaks and remove around the perimeter of the fire to halt its spread, including shovels, rakes, and the pulaski a tool unique to wildland firefighting. In the eastern United States, portable leaf blowers are sometimes used. In the western United States, large fires often become extended campaigns, and temporary fire camps are constructed to provide food, showers, and rest to fire crews. These large fires are often handled by 20 person hand crews, sometimes known as hotshot crews, specially organized to travel to large fires.

Fast attack teams are often considered the elite of firefighting forces, as they sometimes deploy in unusual ways. If the fire is on a particularly steep hill or in a densely wooded area, they may rappel or fast-rope down from helicopters. If the fire is extremely remote, firefighters may parachute into site from fixed-wing aircraft. In addition to the aircraft used for deploying ground personnel, firefighting outfits often possess helicopters and water bombers specially equipped for use in aerial firefighting. These aircraft can douse areas that are inaccessible to ground crews and deliver greater quantities of water and/or flame retardant chemicals. Managing all of these various resources over such a large area in often very rugged terrain is extremely challenging, and often the Incident Command System is used. As such, each fire will have a designated Incident Commander who oversees and coordinates all the operations on the fire. This Incident Commander is ultimately responsible for the safety of the firefighters and for the success of firefighting efforts.

4. Переведите вопросы и ответьте на них:

1. What is the key to controlling and suppressing a forest fire?

2. What methods are used to fight tree main types of fires – ground (surface) crown fires?

3. Why did the policy of controlled burns appear?

4. What are the prescribed burns?

5. What equipment is most commonly used in urban firefighting?

6. What are the alternative techniques in firefighting?

7. Will you describe the work of fast attack teams, please!

5. Переведите на слух в быстром темпе:

Сообщение о пожаре; a suppression strategy; пожар в труднодоступном месте; to transport a crew to a fire site; отсутствие дорог; to parachute “smokejumpers”; дaнные из разных источников; to burn on the ground; копать «пожарные рвы»; наземный пожар; to spread the fastest; «перепрыгивать» с верхушки на верхушку дерева; to call for extreme measures; химические ингибиторы горения; to suppress all fires; политика контролируемых пожаров; to reduce underbrush; снизить риск высокоинтенсивных пожаров; to result in fuel buildup; катастрофические потери, вызванные лесными пожарами; prescribed burns; предотвращение крупных пожаров; to live in fire-prone areas; приобретать собственное противопожарное оборудование; to be threatened by wildfires; предпринимать дополнительные меры предосторожности; to use lookouts for early detection of forest fires; противопожарные службы; to construct firebreaks; организовывать группы быстрого реагирования; to use portable pumps; пожар в густой лесистой области; to use in aerial firefighting.

6. Переведите устно и письменно (рекомендуется для зрительно-устного и зрительно-письменного перевода):

Fire suppression

In North America, the belief that fire suppression has substantially reduced the average annual area burned is widely held by resource managers and is often thought to be self-evident. Direct empirical evidence however is essentially limited to just two studies by Stocks (1991) and Ward and Tithecott (1993), that use Ontario government fire records to make comparisons of average annual area burned between areas with and without aggressive fire suppression policies. Numerous  subsequent studies have presented  the  same

information, often in a different format (Martell 1994, Martell 1996, Weber & Stocks 1998, Li 2000, Ward & Mawdsley 2000). The proponents of these studies argue that areas without aggressive fire suppression policies have larger average fire sizes and greater average annual area burned and a longer interval between fires and that this is evidence of the effect of fire suppression.

However, the idea that fire suppression can effectively reduce the average annual area burned is the focus of a vocal debate in the scientific literature. In particular, several recent papers have argued against this idea (Miyanishi & Johnson 2001, Miyanishi et al. 2002, Bridge et al 2005). These papers claim that statistically rigorous techniques for estimating the average annual area burned, called the fire cycle, do not show changes in the fire cycle associated with fire suppression and that the evidence used to support the effect of fire suppression is biased and has been presented in a way that is flawed. Note that none of these papers criticize fire management agencies for being anything less than completely committed to their mandate. Nor do they suggest that fire personnel are not well trained, efficiently deployed or well managed. Instead, these papers simply suggest that despite the resources employed, fire management agencies are simply unable to effectively reduce the average annual area burned.

The impact that effective fire suppression may have on the average annual area burned is important for many reasons, but in particular, its impact is key to the current paradigm of sustainable forest management in many jurisdictions. One of the core aspects of SFM in many jurisdictions is the use of wood supply models to determine sustainable harvest levels. This determination of sustainable harvest levels often assumes that fire suppression has been effective at reducing the average annual area burned. Thus, if current assumptions about the effect of fire suppression are wrong, the impact on SFM could be substantial.

Chapter IY Forest Fires

Lesson 1

Forest Fires – An Overview

Terms and expressions

fire management	–организация мер по предупреждению и тушению пожаров
fire suppression	– тушение пожаров
fire prevention	– предупреждение пожаров
natural fire	– пожар, вызванный природными условиями
lightning	– загорание от молнии
spontaneous combustion	– самовозгорание
firefighting authorities	– противопожарные службы
“fire triangle”	– триада факторов, вырывающих пожар
smoldering fire	– тлеющий пожар
flaming combustion	– горение с языками пламени
glowing combustion	– пылающий пожар
ground fire	– низовой пожар
surface fire	– наземный (напочвенный) пожар
crown fire	– верховой пожар
extinguish a fire	– тушить пожар
fire fighters	– пожарники
suppression methods	– методы тушения
rugged terrain	– сильно пересеченная местность
digging trenches	– траншеекопатели
water backpacks	– ранцы с водой
firebreaks	– противопожарная полоса
fire retardant chemicals	– химические ингибиторы горения
burn debris	– сжигать лесосечные отходы
composting	– компостирование
flammable	– воспламеняемый
keep handy	– иметь в распоряжении
water hose	– водяной шланг
power saw	– моторная пила
fire extinguisher	– огнетушитель
forest slash	– сухостой

Introductory exercises

1. Переведите устно (рекомендуется для перевода с «листа»):

Forest Fires in the Russian Taiga: