Post-fire effects and heat pipe as innovative suppression tool in peat fire management

Peat swamp forest is a globally significant carbon stock and habitat for endemic flora and fauna. However, this ecosystem faces significant threats from fires due to human and environmental factors. This thesis aims to understand fire safety management by focusing on post-fire effects and mitigation strategies in peat swamp forests. To achieve this, Objective 1 examines current approaches in preventing and managing peat fires, emphasizing the need to mitigate the post-fire effects caused by human-induced fires, as discussed in Chapter 3. Mitigating smouldering peat fire is critical and has been recommended, for instance, through the construction of firebreak canals. This approach significantly controls smouldering peat fires by the fire managers along with experienced firefighters; the majority were trained in peat firefighting (77%). Peat fire occurrences have been recorded in the Beaufort peatlands and Raja Musa Forest Reserve, Malaysia, which were chosen as study sites to achieve Objective 2, analysing the peat properties at different post-fire conditions discussed in Chapters 4 and 5. Significant differences in peat properties between pre-fire and post-fire conditions, and high frequency and low fire frequency areas were recorded near firebreak canals. The findings revealed that repeated fire incidents caused waterlogged conditions at the surface of the peat soil, carbon loss, lower organic matter content, and influenced peat properties such as pH, P, Ca, Na, K, and Mg, showing significant differences (p<0.05) between pre-fire and post-fire areas. Lower moisture content and water table depth will make peat a good below-ground fuel to sustain smouldering peat fires. Subsequently, Objective 3 investigates the importance of moisture availability by the presence of a water table in suppressing smouldering peat fires. The study explored the creation of a safe region within the peat layer enhanced by the role of heat pipes as suppression tools, as discussed in Chapter 6. The findings demonstrate that heat pipes are effective suppression tools that enhance the formation of a safe region from 1.5 cm without heat pipe application to 8 cm and 17 cm in mesh and sealed rigs with heat pipe application, respectively. The findings have demonstrated the significant role of heat pipes in suppression efforts. In summary, effective peatland fire management requires policymaking, suppression actions, and ongoing monitoring to substantially reduce the risks posed by smouldering fires in tropical peatlands. This research provides essential insights for government agencies and firefighters regarding pre-fire mitigation and post-fire impacts on peat properties.

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