Fig 1. Pole 1 is to the right, pole 2 to the left
During an equipment development tour of the 1988 Yellowstone Fire a comment was made that fire shelter material had been used to protect power poles in and around the Inn at Old Faithful. Sprinklers were used to protect the National Landmark built in 1903 and electrical power was used to run some of the pumps. Maintaining the power and hence power poles was critical in saving the structure.
In preparation for work at the Banff National Park Fairhomme Bench Prescribed Burn, FERIC field tested fire shelter material for the protection of wooden power poles. The work was carried out as part of a study into the use of sprinklers for structure protection in Ft. McMurray with the Waterway Helitack crew in April of 2003.
To determine if fire shelter material (aluminum foil laminated to fibre glass) can protect wooden power poles from wildfire.
Fig 1. Pole 1 is to the
right, pole 2 to the left
FERIC wrapped three wooden poles on a deactivated power line with fire shelter material. Two products were used to affix the shelter material to the power pole. Pole one had duct tape ( gray plastic tape with a fabric backing and adhesive), and pole two had steel wire.
The poles were located on flat terrain with moderate grass loading.
The Waterways HAC crew ignited grass surrounding the poles by using a drip torch. Wind speed varied from were 10 to 15 km/h. FERIC recorded the experiment by using a digital camera and video camera.
Fig 2. Pole 1 is to the
right, pole 2 is to the left
The fire encircled the power poles quickly burned the grass. Flame heights of one to two meters occurred. The duct tape used to affix the shelter to the pole melted and failed within one minute, thus exposing the pole to flames which subsequently ignited and had to be extinguished by the crew (Fig. 3)..
The poles affixed with steel wire survived the fire, did not catch fire nor on inspection did these poles receive damage from the burn (Fig 3).
Fig 3. Pole
1 is to the right, pole 2 is to the left
It appears fire shelter material is suitable for the protection of wooden power poles, provided it is fastened to the pole by non-combustable material.
Additional testing is required to identify the range of Head Fire Intensities in which the material works.