Use of Wetting Agents against Heath and Undergrowth Fires

Abstract

SUGGESTIONS have been made¹ that by the addition of wetting agents an economy can be achieved in the use of water in fire fighting, particularly with heath and undergrowth fires. Preliminary experiments which we have recently completed indicate some of the probable limitations of this proposal, and also suggest fields in which it might have some practical use. The combustible materials used were ling (Calluna vulgaris), bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and purple moor grass (Molinia cærulea) ; the samples were provided by the Forestry Commission at the end of the winter and after a long dry spell, so that they were in their most dangerous condition from the point of view of the forest fire-fighter.