Fire Fun

One of my neighbors called Saturday morning to see if I could come over and help him burn off a patch of prairie grass.  I fired up the ATV,  topped off the water tank, and grabbed the camera before I went.  This was a low stress burn.  The edges were either bean stubble, or mowed grass, and controlling the lines was a piece of cake.  Here we see George lighting the downwind side against a firebreak of soybean stubble, which required only watching, and no work in the smoke.

The flanks were mowed prairie grass, which was damp, and did not burn aggressively.  After the fire has some degree of separation you wet the line and snuff it with a flapper, or run over it with your ATV to kill it.

The upwind side was against green grass in a farm lane, and it was easier than the flanks.  Here we see some nice action along the flank of the fire.  I was back home in two hours, and hadn't broken a sweat.  Way back before we had ATV's, you had to carry a five gallon can of water on your back while you patrolled the line, and you would have bruised shoulders and had a sore back, even if you had an easy day.