FireHawk 

Alasia Marketing (South African technology company)

Fire Protection Associations which are made up of private and corporate timber growers, commercial crops and grassland landowners

Firehawk Detection system, GIS. Digital Imaging Systems developed the system in 1994  - it was trademarked and patented in South Africa and named Firehawk. Zululand Fire Protection Services took over ownership of the Firehawk system in September 2002 and now owns the rights to the system.Systems have now been taken over by Atasia Marketing.

See above.

Veld and Forest

The implementation of Firehawk - an electronic forest fire detection system to significantly improve the early detection of fires in KwaZulu Natal’s coastal zone and Midlands Areas, thus reducing the damage to the environment and the sustainable timber industry

The Kwambonambi system consists of a network of twelve digital, high-resolution video cameras mounted on tall masts. The cameras record live video images of their surrounding area (120,000 ha), completing a full 360° scan in less than four minutes. Each camera covers a radius of 6 to 8 kilometres and can detect a fire up to 20 kilometres away.  The live video images are transmitted via microwave antennae to the Kwambonambi Operations Centre, which can be up to 65 kilometres away. There, the images are analysed by sophisticated Firehawk software that can distinguish between fire, smoke and glow, and automatically raises an alarm. Each Firehawk camera is equipped with a radio receiver that allows the operator to manipulate it remotely (and zoom in and out of an area) without affecting other cameras in the system. Moreover, the Firehawk software is linked to a geographic information system (GIS) database that provides operators with additional information about the area under surveillance. For example, at the touch of a button, any fire can be cross-referenced from different cameras to determine its exact co-ordinates. The GIS maps are also used to identify the fastest or safest road to access the fire. The GIS database is continuously updated and can be used to make predictions about areas that are most at risk from fire.
An operation system is in place in the Richmond area with 5 cameras.
A new branch of the system will be operational in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands from 1st July 2006. This will consist of 12 cameras with the same operational requirements.

Quick responses to fires. Once a fire has been detected aerial fire-fighters – bomber aircraft that release a large load of flame-retardant water above the area in order to smother the fire and prevent it from spreading, can be despatched. Within 30 minutes a situation can be under control.  The initiative has drastically limited the damage, both to the environment and the sustainable timber industry. In Northern KwaZulu-Natal during the 2000 fire season a total of 153 fires were detected. Of these 87 fires were detected at night. Results at the end of the season showed a burnt area rate of less than one hectare per fire (0.7 ha per fire), whereas during the 1998 fire season, before the Firehawk system was installed the burnt area rate was 5.68 ha per fire. This proved that by having the capability to detect fires more rapidly, ground crews and aerial support are able to get to the source of fires much faster, thereby limiting damage drastically. The summary description of the system is ‘Defensive and Offensive Initial Attack Veld and Forest Fire Protection’. We use the word ‘Protection’ because you can have the best detection system in the world but, without finely tuned systems to respond to the initial attack detection, the system is set up to fail. We manage this by being totally in control of the activations of rationalised fire fighting resources ensuring that the teams get to the incident in the shortest possible time. Fires have no boundaries and neither do the offensive and defensive systems.

The system is being extended to other South African regions as forestry companies and private plantation owners come to realize its enormous potential.

Electronic fire detection must be adequately backed by rationalized offensive fire fighting resources. The potential of the system can only become fully realized when all landowners in the detection footprint contribute to the infrastructure costs. Fortunately the technology is almost self marketing as it is so effective.

Defensive and Offensive Veld and Forest Fire Protection