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

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SECRET REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL FOREST BURNING Forest flammability depends on the amount and arrangement of dead vegetation at ground level, the moisture content of this fuel, and the weather at the time of burning. A technique for successful forest burning must involve feasible procedures for developing adequate fuels, for bringing the fuels to proper moisture content, and for burning under satisfactory weather conditions. The major problems center around developing adequate dry fuel at the ground surface. A limited amount of litter can be supplied as leaves dropped from tree canopies killed by a desiccation treatment. Otherwise, the fuel needed for a running ground fire-the required objective-must be furnished by the dead and living woody vegetation already present at ground level. To serve as fuel, all living vegetation at ground level must be killed by a desiccation treatment. The moisture content of this material must be reduced to a low level-to a point where the heat produced by combustion and transferred to new fuels will exceed the heat absorbed by water remaining in the fuel. The dry weight of forest vegetation-potential burnable fuel-ranges from 1/10 pound, or less, per square foot in an opening of light grass up to 5 pounds per square foot in the densest triple canopy jungle. This potential fuel has a high heat value-about 9,000 Btu. per pound for oven-dry wood-about half that of gasoline, and only slightly less than that of white phosphorous. Thus, it is not feasible to replace, or materially supplement, the natural vegetation with additives such as gasoline, oxidizing agents, or other fuel boosters. Such additives have been suggested by people unfamiliar with the subject, as a means fot supplementing natural fuels or overcoming wet conditions. Logisticconsiderations totally preclude this approach over an area of any appreciable size. An example will point out the problem of replacing natural woody fuels with additives. For a typical forest situation with a loading of potential fuel equal to 1.5 pounds per square foot, the incendiary equivalent is 950,000 gallons of gasoline, or 770 tons of white phosphorous per square kilometer. In Pink Rose 1-the least effective of the Vietnamese forest fire raids- I ton per square kilometer of PT- I jellied hydrocarbon ignitied a light ground fire that burned 22 tons of ground litter per square kilometer. In the most successful raid-Operation Hot Tip-I ,850 tons of forest fuel per square kilometer were burned with an ordnance expenditure of only 1/2 ton of PT-I. The use of fuel additives or oxidizers to extend the upper limit of moisture conditions for successful burning also is precluded by logistics. For example, 600 gallons of gasoline per square kilometer would be needed to vaporize the water added to the forest by a 1 percent increase in relative humidity. An increase from 40 up to 80 percent relative humidity, without any precipitation, can add almost a quarter million gallons of water to a square kilometer. A light rain of 1/10 inch would amount to more than a half million gallons on the same area. Obviously, a successful burning technique must rely heavily on natural evaporation of water from the fuels to bring their moisture content down to a satisfactory level at the time of burning. Fuel moisture content is critical in determining forest fire behavior. During burning, heat is required to drive out the remaining water as steam, which displaces oxygen and nitrogen in the air around the fuel, and reduces the oxygen sup;- - wvailable -for combustion. The water vapor also lowers flame temperature which contributes further to lower combustion efficiency. Combustion is never 100 percent efficient in a forest fire. If woody materials were to bum at this ideal efficiency, they could burn even if they contained water equal to seven times their own weight (700 per-cent moisture content). But I radiative efficiency is only 22 percent in ground fires which, on flat terrain, are spread by radiation from burning material SSECRET !i St
SECRET FI.1 OPRTOIIKRS .T9MN I I FIG. 14 OPERATION PIKHOSE TIP. T+9 MIN. 1 SERE
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 16 and 17: SECRET I I I i it FI.I FIG. 2 I I B
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 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
Page 66 and 67: SECRET I t '4Pi I I FIG. 35 * AERIA
Page 68 and 69: SECRET FIG.36 EFFECTS OF OVERSTORY
Page 70 and 71: 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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