Prescribed burning of ground-level shrubs, branches and leaves is a time-tested tool to help prevent wildland fires from getting out of control, but a team led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine suggests that the practice isn’t used frequently enough.
Prescribed burning of ground-level shrubs, branches and leaves is a time-tested tool to help prevent wildland fires from getting out of control, but a team led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine suggests that the practice isn’t used frequently enough.
For a paper published recently in the journal Science of The Total Environment, the scientists conducted an in-depth assessment of meteorological and vegetation data spanning 35 years, finding several additional periods during winter and spring in which wind, temperature and humidity levels would allow safe and effective human-set blazes.
Labeled “Rx burns” by prescribed-fire experts, these typically low-intensity blazes consume surface fuels on the forest floor while preserving trees. Controlled burns can revitalize forest ecosystems and reduce wildfire intensity during an outbreak, creating safer working conditions for firefighters. Another oft-used method is mechanical forest thinning, which meets fewer public policy obstacles, but isn’t as effective.
“California’s wildfires have been getting worse every year in recent decades, owing to factors such as climate change and a century-long fire deficit coupled with a buildup of vegetation and fuels,” said study leader Tirtha Banerjee, UCI assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Prescribed burns can help alleviate this problem, but only if they’re done with adequate frequency and over a large enough territory in the places where they are needed.”
Read more at: University of California - Irving
A drone photograph captures the initial stage of a prescribed burn conducted by UCI researchers in April at the Blodgett Forest Research Station in Georgetown, California. Banerjee Lab / UCI
