Research into the psychological consequences of natural disasters in South Africa remains largely unexplored. This is surprising, given the devastating economical and psychological ramifications that result from major catastrophic events. No research has been done relating specifically to the experiences and coping strategies of fanners who have experienced a veld fire disaster in South Africa. Farmers constitute an important sub-group for study as they may be psychologically at risk to the effects of disasters. In the international research arena exploration of the long-term consequences of disasters is lacking. In considering the question of coping following a disaster, few studies have focused on the influence of temporal dynan1ics, which would seem to be crucial to the outcomes of coping strategies. This study aims to address these gaps in the literature by exploring the experiences and coping strategies of farmers who have experienced a veld fire disaster which occurred in the North West Province of South Africa on 23 August 2011. The total financial loss as a result of the fire amounted to R42 276 I 71. The fires were allegedly caused by damaged power lines, which produced sparks and ignited the nearby veld. This study used a qualitative design. This methodological approach was adopted for its ability to capture the complex and time-sensitive dynamics of coping strategies. This was combined with a case study approach, based on the experiences and coping strategies of eight farmers who had experienced a veld fire disaster within the boundaries of one geographical area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the farmers in their homes and were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. The results of the analysis showed that the farmers progressed through three time periods with distinct patterns of experience and corresponding coping strategies. The person environment relationship, as well as transitioning situational demands inherent in this relationship, were found to be crucial in determining the outcomes of the fanners• experiences and coping strategies. The results also suggest that successful coping is reliant on the individual’s ability to continually adapt their coping strategies in a context-appropriate manner. It is recommended that psychological debriefing should be avoided and that crisis intervention teams (CIT) should focus on the long-term consequences of the veld fire. Future coping research needs to take the temporal aspects of coping into account. / MA (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Although controlled burning has been used to manage Highland Sourveld grasslands, little was known of its effects on the vegetation. This study examined the effects of past fire treatments on veld condition, species composition, dry matter production, quality and canopy recovery growth rates of these grasslands. Also, six techniques of estimating the species composition of grasslands were compared in order to decide on a standard technique for monitoring these grasslands. From this work it was concluded that the wheel point method is the most satisfactory. Veld condition scores were significantly lower in grassland protected from fire than where veld had been burnt or burnt and grazed at regular intervals. Frequent defoliation was found to maintain the grassland composition largely unchanged over a period of 30 years. Individual species were, however, found to react strongly to defoliation frequency. Plant demographic studies were therefore carried out to explain this differential response to burning. Three Decreaser and two Increaser I species were studied. In all species examined, recruitment of secondary tillers was stimulated by regular burning, each species being well adapted to a regular fire regime. Differential responses to burning were best explained by the combined effects of the different reproductive capacities and mortality rates of tillers of these species. A biennial spring burning regime was shown to be most suitable for maintaining the most important grass species at their present levels of abundance. Annual winter and biennial spring burning did not result in significant differences in dry matter production. Maximum net productivity was approximately 230 g/m² in both treatments, placing them amongst the more productive areas of Southern Africa. Examination of canopy recovery growth rates showed that there is little difference in the percentage canopy cover at the end of the growing season when veld is burnt annually in winter or biennially in spring. However, differences in season of burn resulted in exposure to erosive forces at different times of the year. The results of this investigation have highlighted the importance of regular burning during the dormant period in the montane grasslands of Natal. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1985.

Massive short distance spotting has been suspected of increasing the forward rate of spread of bushfires since McArthur (1967) attributed a three-fold increase in rate of spread to short distance spotting at a fire in Daylesford. However, research into spotting has generally focussed on the prediction of long distance spotting, perhaps because of its more obvious effects on suppression of bushfires. The amount of spotting that a fire generates and the distance that spotfires start from the main fire is dependent on the amount and type of bark fuel present, as this is the primary source of embers. / Existing models of fire behaviour have proposed only one model that allows spotting to influence the forward rate of spread of the main fire - the formation of pseudo fire fronts. This thesis proposes two new inl1uence mechanisms; pre-frontal burnout and the "indraught effect". Three hypotheses have been formed to test these three influence mechanisms. / As it is difficult, costly and dangerous to use high intensity fires for experimental purposes, a fire simulation model (SAROS) was developed to run on a personal computer. The SAROS model is based on the McArthur fire behaviour model (1967), with the addition of mechanisms that allow spotting to affect the forward rate of spread of the main fire. SAROS has been tested against data from fires where spotting was thought to have significantly increased the forward rate of spread, and is shown to be a reasonable model of fire behaviour. / Further experiments were carried out to test the sensitivity of the model to the input variables and the impact of each of the variables in the model on changes in forward rate of spread due to spotting. The SAROS model shows that it is possible for massive short distance spotting to increase the forward rate of spread by over 300% of the McArthur predicted rate of spread. However under the conditions where McArthur reported spotting increasing the rate of spread by a factor of three, the SAROS model accounts fbI' only around two thirds of that increase.

This thesis describes the implementation of the conditional moment closure (CMC) combustion model in a numerical scheme and its application to the modelling of enclosure fires. Prediction of carbon monoxide (CO) in the upper smoke layer of enclosure fires is of primary interest because it is a common cause of death. The CO concentration cannot be easily predicted by empirical means, so a method is needed which models the chemistry of a quenched, turbulent fire plume and subsequent mixing within an enclosed space. CMC is a turbulent combustion model which has been researched for over a decade. It has provided predictions of major and minor species in jet diffusion flames. The extension to enclosure fires is a new application for which the flow is complex and temperatures are well below adiabatic conditions. Advances are made in the numerical implementation of CMC. The governing combustion equations are cast in a conserved, finite volume formulation for which boundary conditions are uniquely defined. Computational efficiency is improved through two criteria which allow the reduction in the size of the computational domain without any loss of accuracy. Modelling results are compared to experimental data for natural gas fires burning under a hood. Comparison is made in the recirculating, post-flame region of the flow where temperatures are low and reactions are quenched. Due to the spatial flux terms contained in the governing equations, CMC is able to model the situation where chemical species are produced in the high temperature fire-plume and then transported to non-reacting regions. Predictions of CO and other species are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data over a range of lean and rich hood-fire conditions. Sensitivity of results to chemistry, temperature and modelling closures is inves- tigated. Species predictions are shown to be quite different for the two detailed chemical mechanisms used. Temperature conditions within the hood effect the for- mation of species in the plume prior to quenching and subsequently species predic- tions in the post-flame region are also effected. Clipped Gaussian and ß-function probability density functions (PDFs) are used for the stochastic mixture fraction. Species predictions in the plume are sensitive to the form of the PDF but in the post-flame region, where the ß-function approaches a Gaussian form, predictions are relatively insensitive. Two models are used for the conditional scalar dissipation: a uniform model, where the conditional quantity is set equal to the unconditional scalar dissipation across all mixture fraction space; and a model which is consistent with the PDF transport equation. In the plume, predictions of minor species are sensitive to the modelling used, but in the recirculating, post-flame region species are not significantly effected.

Thesis (M.D.)--Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, 1990. / Typescript (Photocopy). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-85). Also available on the Internet.

Univ., Diss.--Göttingen, 2003.

Mémoire (M.Ress.Renouv.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1991. / Bibliogr.: f. 58-63. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Mémoire (M.Ress.Renouv.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1996. / Résumé disponible sur Internet. CaQCU Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cathy L. Cripps. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-121).