Lesson 4.02: Fighting Wildfires

Note: This presentation may take a moment to load.
Full-screen version

What are some ways to prevent forest fires?

1. Keeping fires from starting is the most effective and least expensive method of control.
2. A large percent of wildfire are caused by man, which can be reduced by educating people about the adverse affects of fire losses.

Prevention measures:

1. Clear all fuel back several feet from trash, camp, or warming fire.
2. Never leave fires unattended.
3. Always have some fire-fighting equipment, water, or loose soil available to prevent fire breakouts.
4. Keep fires small.
5. Do not burn during dry spells, or windy days, or when relative humidity is low.
6. Maintain fire equipment in safe running condition.
7. Extinguish all matches and smoke before discarding.
8. Use prescribed fires to reduce or eliminate fuel.

What is suppression and what are some tools used for suppressing wildfires?

Suppression is the action necessary to extinguish a fire after it has started. The basic jobs of fire suppression are to:

1. Rob the fire of fuel
2. Reduce the fire's temperature
3. Cut off the oxygen from the fire.

The major parts of a fire to be considered in suppression work are:

• Head - The portion of the fire toward which the air is moving. This portion is moving fastest.
• Rear - The portion of the fire from which air is moving away. This portion of the fire is moving slowest and is burned over.
• Flank - The sides of the fire

Visit Firefighter Math for more information on the major parts of a fire.

Tools

	Pulaski This tool combines an axe and an adze in one head. It is used for both digging soil and chopping wood to clear for a fire break.
	Drip Torch This tool is used to carry fuel and light fires. This tool is often used in creating a controlled fired, or established a back fire to stop a wild forest fire.
	Council Fire Rake A council fire rake is a tool that is used for clearing heavy debris and matter from the forest floor for the purpose of creating a fire break.
	Fire Swatter This tool is made of a handle with a large rubber flap. This tool is used to swat small fire to smother it from oxygen causing the fire to be extinguished.

Methods of attack in suppressing a fire:

• Direct - Fighting the fire right at the head of the flames. It is used when the flames are not too intense and are moving slowly.
• Indirect - Used where heat and rate of spread will not permit direct attack. A good example would be a crown fire. In this type suppression firebreaksA firebreak is an open space that has been cleared from anything flammable including vegetation, leaves, and other debris. Natural firebreaks such as rivers or lakes may also be used. A firebreak may also be created by the use of a backfire. A backfire is a process that involves creating a fire that will burn from the nearest fire break back to the wildlife to eliminate fire material and thus slowing or extinguishing the fire. ahead of the fire and backing fire to remove the fuel between the break and the fire.

• Mop-up - Make sure that all fire and smoking material is out or safe inside the firebreak.
• Fire Patrol - The fire should be checked the same day or early the next morning by walking around the breaks, periodic inspections should be made until everything in the area is "dead out."

Prescribed Burning

One method that is used in the forestry industry to manage the forest and to aid in preventing wildfire is prescribed burning.  Prescribed burns are a method used to remove debris and plant litter from the forest floor.  Highly trained forest professionals make decisions about both public and private land that is prescribed to be burned.  Think of the removal through the prescribed burns as similar to keeping the trash and leaves around a person’s home cleaned up. If all of the trash and leaves that were produced by the family piled up, it would become a fire hazard.

Prescribed burning is a tool that is used to also help prevent and lessen the damage that can be caused by wildfires.  This tool is used on a regular basis in Alabama as part of the managed forest.  When a forest is managed through prescribed burning, experts say that the trees that are fire dependent have an opportunity to drop their seeds. In addition, the plants in the understory have an opportunity to grow because the land has been "cleaned"The land that was once covered by plant litter has been opened up by the fire. by the fire.

One misconception that is that any fire in the forest is bad. The reality is that all fires are not bad. In fact, prescribed fires are an important part of the forest management plan.  The Alabama Forestry Commission can be contacted to aid in the planning of prescribed burns for private land owners. This is a public service that the government agency offers for a fee.  In addition, there are private companies that offer these services in the management of the forest.

Visit the following sites to learn more about the benefits of prescribed burning.

• Fighting Fire with Fire
• Helping Animals and Plants
• How We Do It