Prescribed Fire

● A managed, intentional fire.

8 main purposes:

● Removes fuel from the floor● Gets sites ready for seeding and planting● Improves wildlife habitats● Removes undesirable trees and brush cluttering● Controls forest diseases● Improves quality of grass● Improves appearance of forest● Easier access to the forest

Three steps in a prescribed fire

● 1. Must be controlled very close● 2. Fire cannot be too hot

– Damage to crown and to cambium layer● 3. Cannot get out of control

Great Chicago fire

● Most famous fire in America: Great Chicago fire of 1871. 300 people died

Peshtigo fire

● Same time as Chicago Fire● Hot and Dry Summer / High winds● Loggers were burning / got out of control● 1,600 lives lost

● Miramichi Fire (1825) :160 Lives

Three requirements for a fire

● Fuel: Something to burn (forest litter)● Oxygen: Wind● Heat: (ignition temperature): Natural and

human caused

Fire Triangle

7 Sources of Fires

● 1. Incendiary: Arson or out of control planned burn.

● 2. Debris burning: burning trash, litter● 3. Smokers● 4. Campers: fires and lanterns● 5. Railroads: sparks from old locamotives● 6. Logging: not a threat anymore● 7. Lightning: Main cause of natural fires.

Types of Forest Fires

● 1. Ground Fire: Spontaneous Combustion. (Humus or peat gets very hot) Smoldering fire that burns out root systems.

2. Surface Fire: Burn near the ground. Brush, vines, grasses, dry litter on floor. Most common fire.

● 3. Crown Fire: Most Violent and dangerous. Once the surface fire reaches the canopy. Spreads quickly due to wind.

Detecting a wildfire

● Look out tower: – One operator spots smoke

● Calls in to office● Determines azimuth (direction) from the tower with an

alidade (instrument)● Second tower operator does the same.

– Use triangulation to determine actual fire location– Plotting the lines connecting each tower with the

smoke. Point of crossing is fire location.

Other ways to detect fire

● Telephone reports● Fire watch planes

Anatomy of a typical fire

● Starts from a single point● Spreads in the direction of the wind. ● Small fires will be down wind● Leading edge of the fire is jagged.

Factors that affect the anatomy of a fire

● Slope● Moisture● Fuel● Wind● Open areas● Roads● Streams● lakes