The Training of Forest Firefighters in Indonesia
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EUROPEAN UNION GERMAN AGENCY FOR TECHNICAL COOPERATION MINISTRY OF FORESTRY AND ESTATE CROPS Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project, South Sumatra and Integrated Forest Fire Management Project, East Kalimantan The Training of Forest Firefighters in Indonesia Marc V. J. Nicolas and Grant S. Beebe Kanwil Departemen Kehutanan dan Perkebunan Propinsi Kalimantan Timur dan Propinsi Sumatera Selatan April 1999 1 Cover photograph Training of forest firefighters in logging concession; PT. Inhutani V, South Sumatra province. Produced through cooperation between GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA - MINISTRY OF FORESTRY AND ESTATE CROPS EUROPEAN UNION - EUROPEAN COMMISSION GTZ - GERMAN AGENCY FOR TECHNICAL COOPERATION 2 This is one of the two reports prepared during 1999 jointly by the Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project, South Sumatra, and the Integrated Forest Fire Management Project, East Kalimantan. Titles of the reports are: Fire Management in the Logging Concessions and Plantation Forests of Indonesia. M.V.J. Nicolas and G.S. Beebe. The Training of Forest Firefighters in Indonesia. M.V.J. Nicolas and G.S. Beebe. These reports are also available in Bahasa Indonesia. Copies of the reports can be obtained from; The Project Leader, FFPCP, PO Box 1229, Palembang 30000, Indonesia Fax number: +62 711 417 137 – Homepage: http://www.mdp.co.id/ffpcp.htm or The Project Leader, IFFM-GTZ, Kotak Pos 1202, Samarinda 75001, Indonesia Fax number: +62 541 33 519 – Homepage: http://www.iffm.or.id 3 SUMMARY A shortage of competent fire staff at all levels severely limits fire prevention and control efforts throughout Indonesia. This document, prepared by the EU-funded Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project (FFPCP) and the Integrated Forest Fire Management Project (IFFM) supported by GTZ, proposes a broad framework within which firefighter training can be developed and implemented. It is not a substitute for the development of a national or regional course in firefighter training. (The task of preparing such a syllabus is for a government institution.) Within the framework, priority is given to the teaching of the basics. These can be summarized as the training of (i) fire crews of 5 – 20 people organized as a unit, (ii) crew bosses – the men-in-charge of the fire crews, and (iii) the fire bosses – those responsible for all suppression and service activities at a fire. It is however recognized that fire prevention is preferable to later fire control and both FFPCP and IFFM run extensive prevention programmes. The report brings together the current thinking and priorities on firefighter training from countries with a long history of combating forest fires and tailors these to Indonesian conditions. The adaptations are based firmly on the long-term field-based experience of IFFM in Kalimantan and FFPCP in Sumatra. They have been tested and shown to be appropriate. Regency level staff of the Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops have to form the backbone of an upgraded firefighting system although people from many other agencies must also be included. At present private timber concession companies are the major source of trained manpower as these companies are required by law to appoint fire control staff. They thus have a nucleus organization that can be further trained and strengthened. Volunteer village firefighters and members of NGOs also have a part to play, as do the armed services. The theoretical and practical training of firefighters is best carried out by local instructors. The first step is thus to train-the-trainers. The second is to spread the knowledge within to ensure the establishment of the modern, well-adapted organization that is urgently needed. The report details the minimum theoretical knowledge and practical experience that is required to train the forest firefighters at regency and provincial level. Topics covered include the terminology and theory of firefighting, the chain of command, the need to anticipate and the importance of communications. Practical components covered in the training course are intended to acquaint trainees with the essentials of fire behaviour and fire suppression techniques. Hands-on experience in the use of equipment under controlled conditions is seen as an essential pre-requisite before new recruits face a wildfire. Firefighting is dangerous and physically demanding. Safety is stressed and a module on first aid included. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION Preamble Background Fire crews Equipment Basic training of firefighters 2. ORGANIZATION AND COMMAND Organization The fire boss's rules Anticipation and maps Communications Fire reporting 3. THE THEORY OF FIREFIGHTING Fire terminology The fire triangle Fuels, weather and topography The ten standard fire orders 4. PRACTICAL FIREFIGHTING Forest types and fire suppression techniques Building the fire-line Head and anchor points Direct and indirect attacks Mop-up and water use 5. SAFETY AND FIRST AID Crew welfare ‘Watch-out’ situations Individual protection First aid Treatment of burns REFERENCES ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS APPENDIX. FIRE MANAGEMENT TERMINOLOGY 5 1. INTRODUCTION Preamble The Integrated Forest Fire Management Project (IFFM) operates under a bilateral technical cooperation agreement between the governments of Indonesia and Germany. The project is responsible to the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops (MoFEC) and is based in Samarinda in the province of East Kalimantan. The Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project (FFPCP) is a joint undertaking between the European Union and MoFEC and is based in Palembang, South Sumatra province. FFPCP works, as does IFFM, through the Provincial Forestry and Estate Crops Office. As part of their remits FFPCP and IFFM assist Indonesia to strengthen the country’s fire management capacity by suggesting practical methods to train firefighters. Recommendations contained in this paper are based on a field-level ‘hands-on’ approach to the problem, gained working with concession holders and government agencies to prevent and control vegetation fires on peat and non-organic soils. This paper is the second of two joint publications: the other deals with fire management in the logging concessions and plantation forests. Figure 1. Location of FFPCP and IFFM projects in Indonesia. The training of forest firefighters is covered here. But it is the prevention of fires not their successful control that must be the objective of much future work. Throughout Indonesia over 99 percent of all vegetation fires are started directly by man or arise from his activities. Small-scale land clearance by farmers leads to many fires, and lack of awareness to others. However the larger fires tend to result from commercial land clearance for plantation crops. In recent years this has also brought increasing numbers of land ownership conflicts that result in arson and yet more fires. 6 There is a pressing need to re-examine land-use policy and also government policies that unintentionally provide incentives to use fire. FFPCP and IFFM stress fire prevention in their daily work; in particular through targeted campaigns such as environmental awareness campaigns with schoolchildren and the work with forest concession holders (Nicolas and Beebe, 1999). Within the context of firefighting, a broad framework is proposed within which the training of forest firefighters in Indonesia can be developed and implemented. Trained ground crews come first. Until they are in place and fully equipped throughout Indonesia, there is no place for, and no need to dream of, the use of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to detect and fight forest fires. Priority is given to the basics and the report is intended to draw attention to these elements that must be included in future teaching exercises. These can be summarized as the training of: · fire crews – 5 to 20 people organized to work as a unit, · the crew boss – the man-in-charge of a fire crew, and · the fire boss or incident commander – the man responsible for all suppression and service activities at a fire. The report gives guidelines on the topics that need to be addressed during Province and Regency level training. It includes chapters on organization and command structures, the theory of firefighting and on the training of firefighters under field conditions. The safety of men must prevail and a short additional chapter outlines these training needs. Fire terminology is covered in an appendix. The report is not intended to, and is not, a substitute for an over-due national programme in firefighter training. This task needs to be taken in hand by an appointed government institution. Action at field level is an urgent necessity and must depend upon the simple and clear training of firefighters as well as on appropriately adapted but inexpensive equipment. Background The basic tactics and strategies developed in temperate countries with a long history of vegetation fires – and thus extensive experience of their control – are also applicable to tropical Indonesia. They do however, need some adaptation to take into account differences in vegetation types and the limited infrastructure within the country. Examples of publications that deal with the fundamentals of tactics and strategy and which can be consulted for further details, include; Canada and USA (Perry, 1990), Australia (NSW Government, 1989), southern Europe (Nicolas, 1982). Some of the differences between the tropics and the temperate zones make firefighting less difficult; the high humidity (³