Fire risks

Peat is formed from piles of organic material accumulated over thousands of years. Naturally, the pile of organic material is wet and stores large amounts of water. However, drying activities cause the water stored in the peat to flow into man made canals and the organic material that was originally wet to turn dry.

Drying activities also cause the peat to constantly emit emission as existing organic materials start to decompose. In addition, due to very dry peat conditions, the water absorption capacity is compromised and the peat no longer functions as soil but as dry wood instead. Under such conditions, fire will burn dried organic materials on the surface and the fire can spread erratically below the surface.