The Challenges of Wildland Fire Investigation CONFIDENTIAL Scope - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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