Text by Vagner Zanzarini
Burning experimental plots in a crazy way
During 2018, I had the opportunity to spend a period in Darwin, in a tropical city in Australia’s top end. Darwin is a multicultural city, known as the crocodile’s home and with the most beautiful and splendid sunset I ever have seen.
During this period, I had the pleasure to work with Prof. Dr. Alan Andersen, at the Charles Darwin University, who gave me good opportunities to conduct my flammability experiments. I learned a lot from Dr. Andersen and I had the chance to collaborate in some great fieldwork expeditions in the amazing (and hot, very hot) Australian savannas. In all the fieldwork that I collaborated with, I had the pleasure to meet and exchange experiences with excellent researchers. Besides, I could participate in the fire experiments at Territory Wildlife Park, which I have some good memories to share.
In Brazil, I am used to burn our experimental plots every year, which is very cool and interesting. When I went to the fire experiments in Australia, I was thinking that the experiments should be very similar. But besides being cool and interesting, the fire experiments were very exciting and, sometimes, a little bit worrying for me. This was because they had a different way to measure fire parameters as we do, and also the way they burn the plots is different. To sum up, the fire team (the researchers who are in charge of measuring the parameters) needs to be inside and in the central area of the plot that will be burned (plot size is 1 hectare). Also, each person needs to observe and register the time when the fire hits the flag, which has a number, and each person is responsible for a flag/number.
I was one of those in charge of one flag and I was inside the plot, while the firefighters
were setting fire all around the area. Of course, I was informed about the methods before they started to burn, but that information didn't exclude my thoughts about trying to plan a way to get out of these plots on fire. Everybody went to their marks and the firefighters started to set fire around the four corners of the plot, and we were just waiting for the fire to come close to us at a considerable speed. I don´t know how my mind could make so many things at the same time (to observe the fire, register the time, and plan a way to escape from there by myself). But as I’m here telling you that crazy and funny story, I survived and loved the experience to participate in the Australian savannas fire experiments.
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