By Kelsy Gibos
Members of the FERIC Wildland Fire Operations Research Group met with Forest Protection Division members in Edson, Alberta on May 25, 2005 for a crash course in smoke generation. Only this time, there were no trees to be felled and bucked, and no sticks to pile. Replacing the times of labor intensive pile and burn techniques, the Curtis Dyna-Fog 1200, an industrial pesticide fogging machine, has stepped up to the plate to aid in testing new fire tower personnel, testing helicopter-based initial attack crews, and creating smoke plumes for research and demonstration purposes.
Traditionally, forestry personnel spend full workdays piling fuel in an attempt to create a smoke plume large enough for fire towers to detect. Trained crewmembers fall nearby trees, buck them into sizable pieces, and pile nearby slash with the hopes for an easy ignition later on. The team is often at the mercy of wind and weather conditions, and must choose burn sites carefully. Sometimes all the effort ends in vain, when the smoke plume fails to grow large enough or is sheared off as soon as it rises above the crowns of the forest.
Similar frustrations have been encountered in the research field as well. FERIC has made many attempts to create smoke for the evaluation of their automated smoke detection system (Schroeder 2004). From smoke bombs to airtight stoves, the members tried numerous methods to create plumes large enough to mimic the smoke created by a 0.1 ha fire, only to meet disappointment. Some methods were just not feasible in certain field conditions, especially dangerous and environmentally hazardous techniques such as the burn pan, a common civil fire fighter technique using petrochemicals.
After facing such complications, FERIC and Alberta SRD conducted an investigation into mechanical means of producing smoke (Schroeder 2005). They tested several units based on criteria for smoke volume, column height, duration of smoke production, ease of transport, and compliance with safety and environmental concerns. The Dyna-Fog 1200 excelled in all categories, and a solution to the frustrations of smoke generation was purchased.
The Dyna-Fog 1200, a type of thermal fogger, uses a combination of a gas-powered engine and diesel powered heating chamber to evaporate the smoke product at high temperatures and pump it into the air where it condenses to form a smoke particle. The smoke product is a water-glycol mixture and is used for special effects on movie sets and live stage performances. Because of the thermal input, the fog rises easily, making this fogger the preferred type of equipment to reach through bushes and above treetops (Vogt 2001).
In Edson, the easy-to-use Dyna-Fog 1200 demonstrated its ability to produce large, visible smoke columns. The machine is equipped with a remote control which can be used to start and regulate the smoke a distance away from the machine, or from inside the vehicle. The machine has also been fitted with a steel frame for ease of transportation by forklift or by helicopter. The Dyna-Fog 1200 and its associated parts fit easily into the back of a half ton pick-up truck, with a total estimated mass of 1000 lbs.
The smoke generator will be used for research and by SRD employees for conducting tests within their individual districts. It has already been used to create smoke plumes to train fire lookout personnel and to test their detection abilities. Initial attack crews have also been tested on their response time to the initial smoke sighting, and are learning to rapidly recognize fire size from the air as they approach the scene.
FERIC's research plans include using the smoke generator to create plume images for use in a video detection system currently under development. The group will also take the unit to Fort Providence, Northwest Territories near the end of June where its smoke output will be compared to the output from predetermined plots 0.1 ha in size. The trial intends to determine whether or not the machine is capable of mimicking the output of a fire 0.1 ha in size, and to record images of the characteristic smoke plume. In Alberta, lookout towers aim to detect fires 0.1 ha in size, but as of yet there has been no formal research into smoke output of such an event. FERIC hopes to use the Dyna-Fog 1200 to explore these smoke events and to record useful information for later use in descriptive databases.
Schroeder, D. 2004. Evaluation of three wildfire smoke detection systems. FERIC, Vancouver, B.C. Advantage Report Volume 5 No. 24. 8 pp.
Schroeder, D. 2005. Use of a smoke generator and smoke plots to aid fire lookout personnel. FERIC, Vancouver, B.C. Advantage Report Volume 6 No.9. 4 pp.
Vogt, P. 2001. Equipment for fogging of Rejex-it TP-40. Ames, Iowa. Bird Strike Presented Papers. 6 pp.