Operative Manual for the Fight Against Forest Fires by Pier Luca Domenichini and Benito Castiglia - Erga Edizioni

Book review

Operational manual for the fight against forest fires

by Pier Luca Domenichini and Benito Castiglia

Title

: Operating Manual for the Fight Against Forest Fires

Author

: Pier Luca Domenichinie Benito Castile

publisher

: Erga Edizioni

Necklace

: Manuals

First publication date

: 2003

Date of last (third) edition, updated and expanded

: 2009

Number of pages:

439

Cost:

40.00 euros

Type of paper used:

the book is printed on ecological paper

Illustrations

: the book is abundantly illustrated

Operating Manual for the Fight Against Forest Fires is a book dedicated to the prevention and fight against forest fires. It looks like a real manual, full of illustrations, photographs and diagrams, the aim of which is to give the greatest possible dissemination on how to prevent and fight fires "largely determined by the more or less voluntary action of man".

The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that fire, despite its gravity and the damage it causes to the environment, is still considered a becoming of matter, in fact defining it as the "vegetation fire" as "(... ) a physical-chemical phenomenon that rapidly separates the components of plant substances, releasing energy in the form of heat and returning to the environment all the organic and inorganic matter in the plant biomass "and therefore seen in the larger perspective of life that returns to mother nature.

The book as well as being addressed and highly recommended for operators in the sector or for those people who in various ways participate in the extinguishing of a fire, can also be read by "non-experts" as it is fluent and thanks to the numerous illustrations, it is easy to understand.Knowing is the most important aspect: knowing how a fire could develop; when it is more likely to develop and why it is likely to trigger, they are dynamics that we all need to know to prevent them and know how to behave.

Before continuing I think it is appropriate to see how the authors have developed the book, through numerous and detailed chapters, which I think it is important to report because better than many words, they give the measure of the completeness of the book.

It is interesting to observe how, among the various aspects taken into consideration, the accent is also placed on the different predisposition to flammability of the different plant essences, thus giving a concrete measure, for the common person when he is in a wood, of the danger of his actions. . In fact, Simette highlights how a forest fire is a dynamic event "whose manifestation and duration depend on a series of factors, among which mainly the type of vegetable fuel affected by the combustion and the meteorological conditions existing at the time of the event", therefore the triggering of a fire and its evolution are dictated by precise rules.

The direct and indirect extinguishing techniques are illustrated in detail, for example which types of tools must be used for a ground attack, to "intervene directly on the flame at the edge of the fire by means of a series of extinguishing techniques" thus describing in detail how use rakes, shovels, hoes ... rather than chainsaws, backpack motor pumps or sprayers; counter-fire, to eliminate vegetation and create a natural barrier to the advancing fire; the vehicles used by the fire-fighting teams with detailed descriptions, photos and diagrams of the extinguishing modules illustrating their operation; the air vehicles used explaining how and why certain fire attack routes must be followed. The authors do not fail to take into consideration the aspects related to how to operate safely during a fire, how to orientate yourself and how to communicate during a fire. The aspects related to the reclamation and the final control of the fire are not neglected, that is to say "cleaning the perimeter of the fire".

The book also illustrates, among other things, the equipment that operators must have; the types of different fires; how to attack a fire and even the techniques of how a passenger has to board a helicopter; how to behave in the case of animal bites or stings ... in short, there are not many other words to describe this manual which in my opinion it would be better for everyone to keep at home to understand, even if not insiders, comeations made lightly, such as carelessly lighting a cigarette in a wood, besides causing damage to the environment that is often irreparable, it is extremely complex and dangerous.

Dr. M.G. Davoli

Video: Uttarakhand: Forests have been on fire for 6 months

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