Manual for the Control of Fire in Peatlands and Peatland Forest

Overcoming fire in peat land/forest is extremely difficult, compared with fire in areas where there is no peat. The spread of ground fire in peatland is difficult to detect because it can extend down to deeper levels or to more distant areas without being visible from the surface. On peatlands, if a fire is not quickly suppressed, or if it has already penetrated far into the peat layer, it will be difficult to extinguish. Moreover, the main obstacles to putting out the fire are the difficulty in obtaining large quantities of water nearby, and the extreme difficulty in gaining access to the site of the blaze. For these reasons, severe/extensive peatland fire can only be extinguished by natural means, i.e. by heavy rain. Despite the many studies which have been done on forest fire, little progress has been made on ways of overcoming the problem of such fires, particularly those in peat land and forest, which continue to recur from year to year, especially in the dry season. This Manual is therefore intended to provide input and alternative choices for dealing with the problem of land and forest fire, especially that occurring in peatland areas. It is contains a variety of illustrations and diagrams which are easily comprehensible/practical and will, it is hoped, facilitate their application in the field.