PROJECT-AQUARIUS .1. STRESS, STRAIN, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MEN SUPPRESSING AUSTRALIAN SUMMER BUSHFIRES WITH HAND TOOLS - BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES, AND METHODS
Gm. Budd et al., PROJECT-AQUARIUS .1. STRESS, STRAIN, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MEN SUPPRESSING AUSTRALIAN SUMMER BUSHFIRES WITH HAND TOOLS - BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES, AND METHODS, International journal of wildland fire, 7(2), 1997, pp. 69-76
This is the first in a series of 13 papers about the safety and produc
tivity of firefighters suppressing wildland fires ('bushfires' in Aust
ralia) with hand tools, with particular emphasis on their physiologica
l and subjective responses and the factors that influence them. The me
asurements were made during a broader investigation to determine the m
ost intense fire that could be suppressed by hand tools, by bulldozers
, and by air tankers. The investigation was carried out during three s
uccessive summers in dry eucalypt forests of Western Australia and Vic
toria. Four crews, each of 7 or 8 male firefighters, were studied whil
e they attempted, for periods of 35-220 minutes, to suppress well-deve
loped experimental bushfires with hand tools, and also while they buil
t fireline in the same way without fire. Additional studies were made
under controlled conditions: outdoors in the forest, indoors in field
laboratories, and in a climatic chamber in Sydney. Most of the measure
ments were also made on the scientific observers, who shared the firef
ighters' environment but performed less strenuous work. All findings w
ere highly consistent over the four crews, three summers, and two Stat
es and are thus generally applicable to bushfire suppression with hand
tools in southern Australia.