Fires in Viet Nam

3 May 2002

GFMC Update 3 May 2002, 08:00 GMT

Despite the officially declared end of the fire emergency (see Final Report) fire activities are still observed in the South of Viet Nam. Fire-weather and precipiation forecasts do not indicate significant changes.

NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-14 POES AVHRR LAC satellite images,
Heat signatures (red) are visible from fires burning in Vietnam. Over 6,000 acres have been scorched in the southern part of Vietnam due to the unusually long dry season
the region has endured, 2 May 2002.
 (Source: OSEI/NOAA)

Precipitation forecast for Viet Nam for 4 May 2002, 07:00 local time.
(Source: ECPC Fire Weather Index Forecast)

Precipitation forecast for Viet Nam for 4-10 May 2002
(Source: ECPC Fire Weather Index Forecast)

(Fire Weather Index (FWI) forecast for Viet Nam for 4 May 2002, 19:00 local time.
(Source: ECPC Fire Weather Index Forecast)

Fire Weather Index (FWI) forecast for Viet Nam for 4-10 May 2002.
(Source: ECPC Fire Weather Index Forecast)

 Duff moisture content (typical for peat-swamp layers) provided
 by the ASEAN Fire Weather Information System (Source: ASFWIS)

Some visual impressions from the fire sites:

Inferno: Fire blaze in U Minh Thuong National Park. Source: VNS Photo Hoang Tri Dung

Damage control: A canal is dug in an attempt to curb the spread of a wildfire that is devastating the U Minh Thuong National Park. Source: VNA/VNS Photo by Trang Duong

For the a local situation assessment published by Viet Nam News: See the story “All hands on deck as forest fire rages on” (6 April 2002):
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2002-04/05/Stories/03.htm

For a local weather forecast predicting the continuation of the dry spell, see:
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2002-04/03/Stories/11.htm

For GFMC reports on fires in Viet Nam see:

• A Fire Problem Analysis (IFFN No. 7 - August 1992)

• Fire Management Assessment Tram Chim National Park, Dong Thap Province, 
  Viet Nam (IFFN No. 26 - January 2002)

See photographs that includes effects of fire in Melaleuca forests of Vietnam:
GFMC Photo Archive Viet Nam

 First Report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Ref: OCHA/GVA 2002/0081
OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Vietnam - Forest Fire
9 April 2002

This report is based on information provided by the UNDP Office in Vietnam, the Disaster Management Unit and media reports.

 Event and Impact

1. A forest fire, that started on 23 March in the 8,000‑hectare U Minh Thuong National Park in the southern province of Ca Mau, is now raging out of control and threatens to destroy thousands of hectares of forest.Temperatures in the heart of the forest have soared to 50 degrees Celsius and reached thousands of degrees in the 0.5 to 1.5 metre‑thick smouldering peat and coal layers. The combined high temperatures and strong winds have occasionally produced large fireballs, endangering the remaining forest and hampering efforts to extinguish the fire. A prolonged drought has severely limited the availability of fresh water, which is hindering fire‑fighting efforts. U Minh Thuong Forest is ranked as the world's second richest and largest mangrove forest after the Amazon rain forest in Brasil.
2. The fire is believed to have destroyed over 4,000 hectares of virgin forest. This will affect the lives of thousands of poor families living in the area, and will also have significant ecological impacts, including loss of biodiversity and habitat to local species.

National Response

3. Thousands of policemen, military, forest rangers and local residents have joined forces to combat the fire. Fire fighters have isolated approximately 5,000 hectares of virgin and newly planted forest by digging a 6 metre wide, 3 metre deep and 10 metre long canal, along which more than 100 pumps are running 24 hours a day to provide water for the fire fighting effort. A 10 metre‑wide fire prevention belt is being cleared. So far, digging ditches around the burning areas has been the only way to halt the spread of the fire.
4. The police and armed forces were mobilised on Tuesday, 2 April to assist the fire fighters, and military units are said to be at the forefront of the effort.
5. The provincial authorities have mobilised all tractors and pumps owned by residents in neighbouring areas. 

General Information

6. No request for international assistance has been received by OCHA to date.
7. OCHA is in close contact with the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Hanoi and will revert with further information.
8. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int

Last report by the Environment News Service

(for photographs: see http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-09-02.html)

Fiery Inferno Engulfs Vietnamese National Park

Hanoi, 9 April 2002 - Thousands of policemen, military personnel, forest rangers and local residents have joined forces to fight a fire eating its way through U Minh Thuong National Park in the southernmost province of Kien Giang.
The forest fire, which officials say started on March 23, has been raging out of control. A report of Vietnam's official news agency VNA today says firefighters have contained the blaze but not before it destroyed an estimated 4,200 hectares of peat swamp forest, wiping out about half the national park.
Temperatures in the fire's core area have hit 50 degrees Celsius and reached thousands of degrees in the deep layers of burning peat and coal beneath the forest floor.
Combined soaring temperatures and strong winds have occasionally produced large fireballs, endangering the remaining forest and hampering efforts to extinguish the fire.
The smoke is rising from the U Minh Thuong blaze to join the smoke from many fires that currently dot the landscape across much of Southeast Asia, filling the skies with a thick blanket of smoke over much of the region.
This is normally the dry season, and in addition, a drought that has lasted since the El Nino weather pattern of 1998 has limited the availability of fresh water, making firefighting a tough job.
So far, digging ditches around the burning areas has been the only way to halt the spread of the fire.
Firefighters have isolated about 5,000 hectares  of virgin and newly planted forest by digging a six metre wide, three metre deep and 10 metre long canal, along which more than 100 pumps are running day and night to provide water for the fire fighting effort. The provincial authorities have mobilized all tractors and pumps owned by residents in neighbouring areas to draw water from existing canals criss-crossing the area.
The national park is part of a large area of seasonally flooded Melaleuca swamp forest north and west of Ca Mau town near the shores of the Gulf of Thailand. The peat swamp forests of U Minh comprise a mosaic of forest fragments separated by rice fields, settlements and canals. The northernmost forest fragment is U Minh Thuong which normally floods during the rainy season and dries out in the dry season 
Dr. Julian Thompson, lecturer in physical geography at the University College London who did research in U Minh Thuong in 2001, says the inner forest or Strictly Protected Zone of about 8,130 hectares "has been impacted by human activities such as canal construction and logging in addition to frequent fires. The impact of these factors has been the erosion of much of the peat layer around the forest margins."
Describing the area for the World Conservation Union, Le Dien Duc wrote, "In the past, this region was famous for its dense Melaleuca forests. However, during the war years the region suffered serious damage from bombing and the extensive use of napalm and toxic chemicals, and since then, large areas have been cleared for timber and agricultural land or destroyed by forest fires. Only some 63,000 hectares of forest remain, and much of this, such as the U Minh Thuong forest, is in very poor condition."

The cause of the current fire is unknown. Officials say an investigation will take place after the fire is out.

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