Vietnam War: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon - Paperless Archives

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SECRET I I I i it FI.I FIG. 2 I I B TYPICAL GROUND FIRE S I FIG. 3 ,FIG. 4 3 HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY I BEFORE FIRE AFTER FIRE iSECRETS
SECRET sets did not even burn together on the first two fires, several seconday explosions were observed on each of the fires. The timing of the secondaries was such that they could not have been caused by the incendiaries themselves, but could only have been touched off by ground fires burning into unprotected munitions caches. 2. Running surface fire. The running surface fire burns both the debris on the forest floor and any shrubs and other undergrowth that may be present beneath the main forest canopy. Rates of spread vary from 3 to 12 feet per minute. Flame heights range from 3-4 feet up to 15-20 feet. Grass fires in clearings are a special case of running surface fire. Fire intensity is about the same as that of running surface fires in the forest, but rates of spread and flame heights are about two and one-half times those of forest fires of the same intensity. Running surface fires will burn off 75 to 90 percent of the leaves, twigs, and dead stems up to one-half inch in diameter from the undergrowth. Horizontal visibility will be increased by one to two orders of magnitude depending on the number of large stems left to block the view. Running surface fires in the forest do not burn the upper tree canopy, but they are usually hot enough to kill leaves at heights 5 to 6 times the flame length. Within a few days, these dead leaves will turn brown and begin to drop off. Vertical visibility will be improved if the average height of the forest canopy is low enough for the topmost layer of leaves to be killed. The effect of heat kill on opening up the forest canopy for aerial observation is practically identical to that achieved by spraying the forest with defoliant chemicals: The leaves fall off, given time, but the twigs and limbs remain. These residual twigs are often sufficiently dense to seriously hinder photographic interpretation. They offer practically no hinderance to infrared scanning, laser scanning or other fixed-point, line-of-sight remote sensing techniques. Running surface fires are a much greater threat to unprotected stores than are low intensity ground fires. A total of 15 secondary explosions were confirmed in the 50 square kilometer area burned by running surface fire during Operation Pink Rose II, compared to three confirmed secondaries caused by the ground fires of Pink Rose 1. For the U Minh fire. which burned as a running surface fire during many of !he afternoons in mid-April, the report of the 96th Advisory Team notes that secondary explosions were occurring at the rate of one every 20 minutes during these periods. 3. Forest crown fire. Intense fires within the tree crowns require simultaneous intense running surface fires. Without adequate fire at the ground surface, a crown fire will not be propagated and sustained. Crown fires ordinarily spread at rates of 20 to 100 feet per minute, although runs of 200 to 400 feet per minute are possible for short periods. In flat country, crown fires will seldom persist in the absence of a moderate to strong breeze, since wind is necessary to tilt the flames into unburned foliage at the fire front. Since a crown fire removes not only the leaves, but also the smaller twigs and branches, vertical visibility is sufficiently enhanced for accurate identification of ground features by aerial observers or from conventional aerial photography. Crown fires will destroy or seriously damage all equipment and supplies not stored underground or in clearings at least one-half tree height from the edge of the forest. Crown fires can also be expected to produce casualties, particularly to troops who are unfamiliar with forest fire behavior. Intelligence reports following Operation Hot Tip in 1965 listed two hundred VC casualties out of an estimated population of two thousand VC in the 21 square kilometer target area. Since only 17 percent of the target area burned as a crown fire, this seems to substantiate the thesis that casualties will be limited to, and closely correlated with, the areas burned by crown fires. 9/ Mutch, R. W. et al. Operation Pink Rose. USDA - Forest service. May 1967, 121 pp. SECRET. SECRET 6
Page 1: VIETNAM WAR Forest Fire as a Milita
Page 4 and 5: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon A
Page 6 and 7: OF7 A iD5S Hil'---0 __ = IIIII- _w
Page 8 and 9: SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WE
Page 10 and 11: SECRET INDEX (Continued) Page Weath
Page 12 and 13: SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WE
Page 14 and 15: SECRET detailed and timely intellig
Page 18 and 19: I SECRET I I I I I S....... '•FIG
Page 20 and 21: SECRET FI.I TYIAIRONFR BEOR FIG.FIG
Page 22 and 23: SECRET REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL
Page 24 and 25: I I SECRET heating adjacent unburne
Page 26 and 27: I SECRET FUEL TYPE 8o e1 82 83 84 I
Page 28 and 29: I SECRET I ii 11 I S~FIG. 17 | GRAS
Page 30 and 31: I I SECRET I I FIG. 18 SHRUB TYPE I
Page 32 and 33: Relative Humidity SECRET Table 2 "S
Page 34 and 35: I U I I I I I SECRET I FIG. 21 CONI
Page 36 and 37: S~SECRET A I. B O I I I IB. IN O LE
Page 38 and 39: I I SECRET I- I I I I I I I FIG. EV
Page 40 and 41: SECRET In developing recommended pr
Page 42 and 43: U SECRET The yearly sums of (+) val
Page 44 and 45: I Fireclimate Classification SECRET
Page 46 and 47: SECRET TABLE 5 KEY TO IDENTIFICATIO
Page 48 and 49: SECRET SHumid, long bum season (HUL
Page 50 and 51: I SECRET Table 6 Surfac,,/Volume Ra
Page 52 and 53: I SECRET FIG. 29 AVAILABLE FUEL WEI
Page 54 and 55: SECRET 100 80 FIG. 31 FLAME HEIGHTS
Page 56 and 57: I SECRET I Table 7 Precipitation Ef
Page 58 and 59: I SECRET FIG. 32 EQUILIBRIUM MOI$TU
Page 60 and 61: •Sunshine: SECRET Solar radiation
Page 62 and 63: I I SECRET I Ii I II I g I FIG. 34
Page 64 and 65: Technique"s for Kdlin, D•rming an
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SECRET I t '4Pi I I FIG. 35 * AERIA
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SECRET FIG.36 EFFECTS OF OVERSTORY
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SECRET FIG. 37 TYPICAL EFFECT OF CO
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I .SECRET Use of Systemic Desiccant
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SECRET 6. Effectiveness of foliar s
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SECRET Example of a Desiccation Pla
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SECRET If a lighted match is droppe
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SECRET 0 0 ----- 0" E I- -- z -- o
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SECRET The advantages of multiple i
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SECRET DISCUSSION The deliberate in
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1 SECRET U MINH FOREST FIRES PROLOG
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SECRET Spread Analysis: Spread to K
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SECRET HEADQUARTERS US ARMY ADVISOR
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I SECRET MACV-IVC-2 24 May 1968 SUB
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SECRET NAVAL GUNFIRE MISSIONS DATE
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SECRET Rach Gia - Kien Giang Hourly
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SECRET APPENDIX B Pertinent Incendi
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SECRET Major vegetation type: Tropi
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-HUSB FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET FIG. B2 CLIMATE FF-HUSB HANO
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SECRET Soil appiicat ion: Apply 20
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-NHLB FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-DRYL FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-HUYL MILD WINTER;
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SECRET FIG. B6 CLIMATE MI-HUYL NEW
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SECRET Soil application: Apply 15 p
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-HULB MILD WINTER;
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SECRET FCa. W8 CLIMATE MI-HULB RHOD
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SECRET FIG. B9 CLIMATE MI-NHSB AUST
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SECRET Dates for examl ocationAU.s
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-DRYL MILD WINTER;
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* climates& j SECRET CLIMATE CL-HUY
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SECRET FIG. 512 CLIMATE CL-HUYL COL
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SECRET Dates for example location (
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SECRET t (IIMATI (L HILD ('(X)I WIN
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SECRET (1lMAU- (L NH.% 41()1. *INTI
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I SECRET (IIM-AIF ( Hl•Nt1 ( Wl W
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SECRET FIG. 816 CLIMATE CL-NHLB GRA
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SECRET FIG. 817 CLIMATE CL-DRYL LAS
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Foliar sTray: Apply per acre: SECRE
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Warm continental climates SECRET CL
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SECRET FIG. B19 CLIMATE SC-HUSB MT.
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SECRET Dates for cxampre location (
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SECRET CLIMATE SC-NHYL SHORT COLD W
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SECRET FIG. B21 CLIMATE SC-NHYL PAR
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SECRET FIG. 522 CLIMATE SC-NHSB SAN
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SECRET FIG. 823 CLIMATE SC-NHLB REN
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SECRET Foliar Žpxa: Apply per acre
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SECRET CLIMATE LC-HUSB LONG COLD WI
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SECRET Foliar spray: Apply during t
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"SECRET CLIMATE LC-NHLB LONG COLD W
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SECRET CLIMATE VC-HUYL VERY COLD WI
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I SECRET FIG. 827 CLIMATE VC-HUYL D
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SECRET "CLIMATE VC-NHSB VERY COLD W
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SECRET I Publiction-,: Protect EMOT
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