Prescribed burns are fires we need
Earlier this year you might have noticed a lot of smoke in the air. It didn’t smell like a nice campfire to roast marshmallows around, and when you went outside it was hard to breathe. The smoke in the air was caused by hundreds of wildfires in Canada and Minnesota.
Woodland firefighters work hard to put out the fires, but it takes time. Wildfires are called that because of their wild nature. Once they start it is difficult to stop them.
Prevention
The best way to manage wildfires is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Woodland firefighters accomplish this by performing prescribed burns. Another term for this is a controlled burn.
Words to know
Flapper: A long-handled tool with a rubber rectangle at the bottom that is used to extinguish flames along a fire break.
Burn unit: An area of land to be burned.
Perimeter: The outer limits or boundary around an area.
Burn boss: The person in charge of a burn.
Burn scar: The blackened area of soil and vegetation that is left behind after a burn.
Many forest preserve districts, including the Forest Preserve District of Will County, and other organizations have programs for prescribed burning. Each year they choose different parts of their preserves to burn.
Usually, the same areas are not burned every year but will be on a rotation to be burned every two to three years. By burning these areas in a controlled setting, we can prevent wildfires from occurring because the controlled burn removes excess brush that could otherwise become fuel for a wildfire.
Getting ready
There is a lot of prep work that goes into doing a prescribed burn to ensure it can be done safely and efficiently. Once an area is chosen, the workers will put in fire breaks and remove any material that could make the prescribed burn more dangerous. Workers will also blow mulch and leaves away from areas that are not to be burned.
Burn notices are delivered to houses in the surrounding area so residents are aware of what is going on. On the day of the prescribed burn, local police and fire departments have to be notified in case something goes wrong or in case a concerned citizen calls about the fire.
Woodland firefighters wear lightweight fireproof clothing, thick boots, safety glasses, hard hats, gloves and face shields. They carry tools such as radios, maps, flappers, rakes, torches and water packs.
The work
Being a woodland firefighter working on a controlled burn means that you don’t just put out fires, but you start them too. Depending on the direction of the wind and the area to be burned, the burn boss will decide where to start the burn. A torch containing torch fuel is used to light the fire.
The person lighting the fire will start along the edge of the area to be burned and continue around the perimeter. Other firefighters will follow behind with flappers and rakes to make sure that the fire stays where it is supposed to.
Everyone must communicate and keep an eye on the fire so it does not become unmanageable. Once the entire work area has been ignited, the burn unit will be allowed to burn down until all or most of the vegetation is black.
The conditions have to be nearly perfect for a prescribed burn to occur. The wind speed and direction, humidity and temperature are all factors for determining good conditions for a prescribed burn. When considering this, it is good to look for conditions that are not unsafe but will also ensure the best coverage of the burn. The goal is to burn as much of the area as possible.
Renewed from the ashes
After the fire, everything will look burnt and black for a while, but soon life will make its way back into the area. Some plants are only ever seen after a fire because they need the heat or smoke from the fire for their seeds to germinate. These types of burns can also be used to remove invasive plants from a landscape so that native species have a chance to thrive.
When you are hiking someplace where a burn was done recently you can look for burn scars on trees and along the ground. Have you ever seen a black mark on a tree or a blackened area along the ground on a hike? It just might be a burn scar.
