I've been an intern with Corkscrew for about a month now, and I have already had the luxury to partake in two prescribed burns. With that in mind I wanted to take a
moment to talk about the safety precautions that are implemented to make sure a
prescribed fire runs as smoothly as possible. At the end of the day we are
working with fire, and there is always the concern with possibilities of fire
spreading to nearby properties and smoke intrusions in populated areas. In
order to prevent these scenarios, we take many preventive measures, with
considerable preparation and planning. First, a prescription is written that includes
a description of the area, the objectives for the burn, acceptable weather
parameters including smoke modeling, description of anticipated fire behavior,
a list of personnel and equipment to implement and hold the burn, etc.
Next is prepping, many precautions are taken at the burn
unit to make it as fire safe as possible. Prepping consist of establishing the
perimeter fire breaks. Such as Hard lines, which consist of bare sand/ soil
containing no organic matter (which can be seen in the photo) or natural
boundaries such as bodies of water.
Many factors must be considered when choosing a
day to burn. fires are generally not
permitted by the Florida Forest Service, when hot, dry weather conditions or
high fuel loads increase the likelihood that the fire could spread to other
property. Likewise, fires should be ignited only when wind directions are predicted
to carry smoke away from nearby smoke sensitive areas. If the fire is approved,
a crew is lead by a highly trained burn boss. It is part of everyone’s duty to attentively
watch where the ashes are landing to make sure the fire does not jump to
another unit or extinguish them as quickly as possible.
Once the fire is finished, the mop up begins. The Mop up consists of ensuring any flaming or
smoking material which may threaten the containment of the fire is fully
extinguished.
-Julie, Conservation intern
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