There are some disadvantages to consider when using this tactic. The main issue is that it needs to be performed 100% correctly, or it is ineffective. If it is not done correctly or in the appropriate situation, there is a great risk of pushing the fire. Temperatures could rise substantially and smoke could fill adjacent rooms and/or previously uninvolved areas. Defensive back up crews and resources…
-clearing dead/ burn brush and trees, thinning forest to prevent future fires as big as this one.…
“On October 8, 1871, the most devastating forest fire in American history swept through (Estep)northeast Wisconsin, claiming 1,200 lives.” Forest fires affect various states in the U.S. every year. If a forest fire occurs, it’s usually in dry and hot places. Forest fires are very rapid, like tornados, but the Peshtigo fire was very deadly and severe…
Wildland Firefighting, Clayton, Day and McFadden, Chapter 12 IFSTA, Ground Cover Fire Fighting Practices, 2nd Edition, Chapter 6…
In summary prescribed burns can prevent wild forest fires. It can clear the fuel needed to spread the fire, Also it can clear unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem. Even in nature a small fire is natural, as cities grow so does fire suppression. Wich can cause ecosystems became increasingly dense and support unwanted plant life. So in part I hope that you consider prescribing burns in the…
In a forests life, the process of a fire starting and destroying the trees and underbrush in a forest is an important cycle. It helps to improve the life span of the vegetation and animals living in it. With the rise in wildfires all over the country, researchers say that controlled burns will help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Many people think of fire as only being dangerous and destructive to the environment, these beliefs are inaccurate but, not entirely wrong, while fire does destroy things to the eye and pollutes the air; it is also feeding the forest.…
Pros and Cons of Clearcutting There are many good and bad reasons to clear cut or not to clear cut and most people don’t understand that clear cutting isn’t bad per say but can be helpful in the long run. There are two versions of clear cutting, one called a commercial clear cut, where only the merchantable tree is cut, leaving the unmerchantable tree behind to be either left or burnt in the slash piles. The other is a plain old clear cut, where everything is cut, from the merchantable trees to even the unmerchantable are cut.…
Probably the most shocking thing I learned during all this was that some fires and controlled burns are actually good for not only the woods itself but it is also beneficial to the surrounding ecosystem. The burns prevent the forest from becoming overgrown, and make them unmanageable. Burns also help to get rid of the bottomland species that seem to dominate most forest floors. We were also made aware that the best time to burn is during the lightning season, and that most woodland needed to be burned about once every third year.…
The first recorded wildland firefighting crew was the Unites States Army, who was sent to protect Yellowstone National Park “in 1886 when the U. S. Army was assigned the responsibility for its protection” (NWCG). Upon the Army’s arrival they found several fires burning, some were in areas unreachable to man, so the first fire suppression techniques were developed. “The commanding officer decided that human-caused fires along roads posed the biggest threat and that the Army would concentrate its suppression efforts on the control of those fires” (NWCG). The army turned over its reign of forests to the United States Department of Forestry (USDF) in 1901.…
In Australia, wildfires are extremely common. This region is experiencing a high drought. When the air is warm and the land is dry, these wildfires start and does not stop for minutes and hours. It destroys everything in its path including the trees that have adapted overtime to weather. Hundred of trees burn down leaving nothing but ashes. Khan stated, “ Trees like the King Billy Pine and fagus — a beech tree and the only winter-deciduous tree in Australia — could be burned out of their range on Tasmania.These trees have spent millions of years adapting to slow climate changes. But the current rate of change is unlikely anything the world has seen in millions of years.”…
Deforestation is a significant issue in to be examined in California’s history because we are destroying what is left of the natural beauty of this great state by cutting down trees in our forests. Before us the current residents or California took over a vast majority of California was once blanketed by towering trees and they seemed to be endless from what most people saw. But as most of us Californians see it now we have cut down a majority of trees and instead of the natural trees we once had covering California we have replaced them with concrete trees, and these trees are all the skyscrapers, business, stores, and homes. This is a growing problem since the population in California seems to keep getting bigger as time progresses and what do we do when we run out of space. We go out to the forests and cut down more trees to accommodate the population growth and with those trees we build more homes and businesses. And to protect what is left of our diminishing forests, environmentalists have been protesting and petitioning and even in some extreme cases chained themselves to trees and blocked roads from loggers who go and try to cut more trees down just to protect what is left of our forests. When people like the environmentalists step in and do this they gain the public’s eye and gain nation attention and others states do the same thing to protect our nation’s natural beauty. And when all this attention goes around the government is forced to change its policies and regulations to fit the needs of its citizens. Logging companies can’t go around cutting down trees when they feel like it anymore they have many regulations they have to meet now. But even with all of these regulations there will always be flaws. Even though the loggers are logging way less than they used to they are still doing it more than they need to.…
The plans will study humidity, wind, moisture, and temperature to find the best conditions for the trees and plants to burn. Specialists determine when the best conditions for smoke removal is possible and compare the conditions of each day to find the perfect timing. Every time they make sure to have a clear plan on to when, why, and how the prescribed fire will be executed before making a decision. All of the positives and solutions that were just named outweigh the possible but fixable problems that may come along with prescribed fires. In the end, using prescribed fires is the most efficient and safe way of dealing with and preventing wildfires. Prescribed fires protect communities from possible wildfires, decrease the spread of insects carrying disease, and put healthy nutrients back into the soil improving the habitats for endangered plants and animals. Work Cited: Author Unknown “Benefits of Prescribed Burning Illustrated by Colorado State University Researcher’s Study of Boulder’s Open Space.” Colorado State University. Edgenuity. Web. 1 June.…
Controlled burning is helpful and can be used for many reasons that are beneficial to the forest or burnt area. Controlled burns can; prevent further naturally started fires by burning out all the leftover dry material, get rid of dead plants to make room for new vegetation to grow which in turn creates new homes for animals, and can even help the soil gain nutrients. Some believe that controlled burning isn't necessary and that the chance for the fire to go out of control is too high a risk to take. However, the percentage of reported escaped fires is only a mere 1%. To many, it makes more sense to use controlled burning will all of its benefits than to worry about the very unlikely possibility that the fire will go out of control. Using controlled fires is becoming a more popular practice these days. This is due to the success rate of controlled fires along with the environmentally beneficial factors.…
When a fire starts in a forest, the first part of the forest to burn is the underbrush, fallen branches and leafs from years before and the last fall. Lower branches and small shrubs burn as well, effectively cleaning the understory of the forest, leaving behind fertile ash that will later become the means for new growth. Because of the destruction the fire leaves behind, many people have been deceived by the appearance of what is left instead of looking to see that the ecosystem depends on this "destruction" to grow new life. For example many sub-species of pine trees need the extreme heat of the fire to melt the wax on their cones to let their seeds fall on to the ground so they may grow into trees later in life.…
Climate, vegetation and fire influence positive and/or negative actions imposed on one another. Climate affects vegetation by means of any form of precipitation (rain, snow, fog, etc). Climate also affects the different types of vegetations that will burn after long periods or seasonally due to the variables of precipitation. Fires can be caused through natural impacts or through human endeavors. Fires usually arise after long dry hot periods in windy weather when humidity is relatively low. Under such extreme conditions intense fires occur. These fires can spread to far distances with burning everything in its path. Lightning is another natural way to cause fire. Human activities in contrast either deliberately or unintentionally ignite fires. With respect to the deliberate fuelling of fires, certain biomes require fire to germinate and adapt to living under these conditions, therefore humans have to ignite fires to maintain the routine of fire in fire-scarce biomes.…