Nepal Fire Management Center

Nepal Forest Fire Management Chapter (NFMC)

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Fire Fighting Tools and Equipments

1. General:

There is increasing incidences and vulnerabilities of forest fires imposing serious threats to lives and properties, destruction and degradation of valuable forests in Nepal every year. Uncontrolled forest fires in 2009 fire season alone toll to 43 death of people (including Army personnel, community fire fighters and general public) and 9 persons to serious injuries and destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares of national forests particularly to community forests, government managed forests, national parks and reserves. Casualties are mainly due to the fighting fires without appropriate tools and techniques.

There is lack of local and national capability to deal with forest fires. Moreover, people are fighting fires without proper hand tools (see the pictures above). It has serious implication to the fire fighters’ safety and efficiency of the efforts.

Therefore, development and distribution of simple hand tools at the local level is extremely important and necessary.

2. Types of Fire Fighting Hand Tools, Equipments and Safety Gears

Following or similar types of local hand tools can be developed/ purchased from respective manufacturers and distributed to the community-based fire fighting groups through District Forest Offices / Conservation Area Offices.

Fire Swatter

Total Weight: 2 kg
Length of handle: 1.5 m
Length of flaps: 300mm ± 20mm
Width of flaps: 50-80 mm (prefer 75 mm)
No. of flaps: 4-6 (prefer 4)
Material (Flap): Rubber and cotton thread casting or equivalent.