I think that when people think about fires they bring up mental images like this one. You see some of this on prescribed burns, but more of your time is spent watching less exciting sections of fire line.
This fire had lots of soft maple leaves where we started, and it skunked along for a good while until we got into oak leaves, which have a higher oil content.
Yesterday I was on a section of line with a creek, which served as a natural barrier. This section required quite a bit of hand labor because of accumulated debris which was lodged in various places along the creek bed. Most of it was a nice, wide fire line, though.
This area had lots of storm damage and snags, so quite a bit of time was spent taking down problems like this one, which can spread fire to the wrong side of the line.
There is usually some collateral damage in prescribed burning. This nice white oak had multiflora rose and honeysuckle around it, which held lots of leaves; and it was an impressive hot spot.
The combination of a moist duff layer, and the vegetation greening up can make a spring burn extra smokey. You learn pretty quickly to work in clear air as much as possible to avoid a CO headache the next day.
This is what we like to see. The line is black and cooling down.
This is something you do not want to see. Both sides of the line are black, and regular patrolling while the burn progressed caught this little breakover before it was a problem. Some quick line building with a leaf blower cut it off and tied the line back into the creek. The video below shows a few shots from a fire in Pope County, Illinois. Titles have been added for your viewing pleasure.
I think that when people think about fires they bring up mental images like this one. You see some of this on prescribed burns, but more of your time is spent watching less exciting sections of fire line.
This fire had lots of soft maple leaves where we started, and it skunked along for a good while until we got into oak leaves, which have a higher oil content.
Yesterday I was on a section of line with a creek, which served as a natural barrier. This section required quite a bit of hand labor because of accumulated debris which was lodged in various places along the creek bed. Most of it was a nice, wide fire line, though.
This area had lots of storm damage and snags, so quite a bit of time was spent taking down problems like this one, which can spread fire to the wrong side of the line.
There is usually some collateral damage in prescribed burning. This nice white oak had multiflora rose and honeysuckle around it, which held lots of leaves; and it was an impressive hot spot.
The combination of a moist duff layer, and the vegetation greening up can make a spring burn extra smokey. You learn pretty quickly to work in clear air as much as possible to avoid a CO headache the next day.
This is what we like to see. The line is black and cooling down.
This is something you do not want to see. Both sides of the line are black, and regular patrolling while the burn progressed caught this little breakover before it was a problem. Some quick line building with a leaf blower cut it off and tied the line back into the creek. The video below shows a few shots from a fire in Pope County, Illinois. Titles have been added for your viewing pleasure.
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