Fire management during droughts

 By JAMES LARAKI

HUMANS have been huddling around fires for thousands of years. 

Fire is a significant tool for humans in that it is used in a number ways. 

It is used for cooking, heat to keep warm, lighting, clearing bushes for gardens (slash and burn) and other modern life amenities. 

It plays an important role in our daily lives.  

For agriculture, it was first used around 7000BC to clear bushes. 

The first agriculturalists are reported to have made use of fire to clear bushes for cultivation and produce ash to be used as fertiliser. 

This could well have been the birth of the “slash and burn cultivation” method, a key part to shifting agriculture. 

It is still practiced in many tropical countries today.

While fire has many uses and benefits, it can be dangerous when not used properly. 

It becomes a very big problem during a drought. 

It can cause lots of damage to gardens, houses, forests, genetic resources, and people. 

There are many unconfirmed reports of a number of fires around Papua New Guinea which caused a lot damage to natural bush lands, gardens, forests, food gardens during the 1997/98 drought. 

There are unconfirmed reports where massive compensation payments were made for damage caused by fires.  

While these claims are unproven, it is possible such incidents could happen if care is not taken with fires, especially during a drought where everything is dried up. 

During a drought situation, it is conducive for fires to be destructive and fatal. 

People light fires to help make gardens. 

Some people think that thick smoke from fires will form clouds that eventually bring rain. Other people light fire to burn rubbish, or for no good reason. 

During a drought small fires can quickly grow into large bush fires that destroy gardens, timber trees, food trees, animals, and houses. 

It can be fatal to be caught in such a situation, either from burns or suffocating from thick smoke. 

How can villages be protected from bush fires?

It is useful to cut tall grasses, weeds or small bushes that can bring a fire right up to houses. 

All dry matter piling up nearby must be removed well away from houses. 

Discuss the danger of lighting fires so that everyone in the family is educated on the danger of fires. Communities need to make awareness on the importance of controlled fires so that everyone is aware of the danger of fires, especially during a drought. 

In many countries, no one is allowed to light fires outside during droughts. 

People who light fires can be taken to court and charged. 

To help us contain damage by fires, the following steps are necessary during a drought:

• People should be discouraged from lighting fires in gardens;
• fill any large containers with water and keep them covered to be used in case of fire;
• have on hand ladders that are strong, which can be used to allow people to quickly climb onto the roof top to put out  a fire in the thatch;
• make sure buckets are kept in the drum or nearby for use when required;
• make beaters from green branches or have “tanget” plants ready for use to beat out fire while they are still small;
• any fire in the village, even a small cooking fire must be closely watched. Even small sparks that will normally not cause problems during normal times might start a big bush fire during a drought, and,
• Fires used for cooking or other purposes must be put out completely after use. 

Can smoke help to make clouds and rain?

The short answer is NO. Many people tend to believe thick smoke from a fire can bring rain. No, it does not; smoke from fires does not make clouds that bring rain. 

Rain clouds are different to smoke clouds. 

Therefore, do not light fires to try and bring rain. All that will happen is that the fires will burn gardens, houses, grasslands, forests, and perhaps people.