Satellite data to help predict regions that risk having wildfires

satellite data may soon allow scientists to predict regions that face the risk of wildfires. A study shows that the data can track wildfire before it strikes. Earlier, scientists used satellite observations to find out the exact location of wildfires besides monitoring their movement. The paper was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeoscience (Vol 111).

Best firefighter

the fire brigade can get a new weapon: liquid nitrogen instead of water or foam. This idea has been brought forward by scientists from Granat State Unitary Enterprise, Russia. As per the system, fire is extinguished by blocking its oxygen intake. In other words, by replacing air with nitrogen, an almost inert atmosphere is created, where the fire would inevitably die out. The system has no loopholes, as the materials that can burn without oxygen are rarely used in day-to-day life.

Consigned to flames

"Abandon all hope, all ye who enter" This inscription that marks the gates of hell in Dante's Inferno could well be true for Jharia town in Jharkhand. For, the underground fires that have been raging in the coalfields here for over several decades are now beginning to engulf its thickly inhabited areas as well. And for the local people -- trapped between officialdom and realpolitik -- mere existence now means hell on earth.

Forest fire destroys park

the threat from three forest fires that forced evacuation of 4,500 families on the east coast of Spain between Alicante and Valencia is waning, newspaper reports said. Two fires, thought to have been started deliberately, are now under control after destroying a considerable part of the Montgo National Park, said the Valencia authorities. At one point, the two blazes joined to form a 14-km wall of fire. Seven fire fighting planes, six helicopters and several dozen fire engines had to be called out to battle the flames.

Tragedy unfolds in Turkey

Fire tragedy

On May 31, 1999, a fire in a godown in the walled city of Delhi left more than 48 people dead. The godown was being used to store chemicals and inflammable material like paints and resins. "The toll is expected to rise since most of the victims have received 70 to 80 per cent burns," said one of the doctors at Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital where most of the victims are admitted.

Depleting ozone layer

A NEW ozone-destroying chemical has been found in the atmosphere, muddying repair efforts of the ozone layer. Halon-1202, a firefighting chemical suspected of being used by the Russian military, has increased five-fold in the atmosphere over the past 20 years, say Australian scientists. For the last two years, the chemical level has increased by 17 per cent every year.

MALAYSIA

The number of bush and forest fires in Malaysia has reduced drastically. The government has made serious efforts to combat the problem. "In the last two months, the fire department has responded to an average of 37 cases per day. This is nearly 80 per cent reduction in the number of cases detected between January and April," says Yusof Muhammad, assistant-director general, fire and rescue department.

Asbestos substitute

Scientists in the US have developed a fire-resistant plastic. E Giannelis and his team at Cornell University, USA, have developed a method to mix organic polymers with clays on a micro level. The modified polymer-mineral blend exhibits increased heat and flame resistance. The Cornell group succeeded in mingling the two chemically dissimilar materials at the nanometre (millionth of a millimetre) scale into a nanocomposite substance. They prepared nanocomposites from a variety of polymers including polystyrene, polyesters and polyethylene oxide.

Misty solution

Less water is one reason why some homeowners cannot install a fire sprinkler system. Soon, they may have another option, a mist system. The water droplets produced by a conventional sprinkler nozzle are larger than 1,000 microns. A mist nozzle propels water through a much smaller orifice to create droplets of 600 microns or less. This gives greater surface area to the same amount of water, so it absorbs heat more readily and suppresses a fire more efficiently. As a result, mist nozzles might use about one-third as much water as conventional nozzles ( Popular Science , October '96 ).