One thing that needs to be talked about is understanding your weather! Landowners need to know humidity, wind direction, and other factors that can turn a prescribed fire into a wildfire!
The backing fire is "pre heating" the fuel load that the heading fire is about to consume, making it burn much hotter and fast. So, if you want a longer residence time on your fires backing fires might not be your best option. If you want to burn as large of an area as possible as quickly as possible, running backing fire will speed up the burn process.
@Whitetail_Properties I am a full time wildland fire management professional, been doing it for 20 years, and teach wildland fire and fire behavior. This is dead wrong. Backing fire = lower intensity, slower rate of spread, LONGER residence time (which is the more important piece of the equation when talking topkill of understory and midstory). Backing fire also does not significantly pre-heat fuels out ahead. Head fire has more intensity but generally shorter residence time except in slash, if the slash is available to burn and catch, it will continue to throw a heat pulse into the ground for some time well after primary ignitions are complete. This can have detrimental consequences to soil composition and health and damage root structures of trees and plants. Head fire DOES pre-heat fuels out ahead which contributes to lower fuel moisture, higher fuel temps, which increases flammablity of fuels ahead of the main flaming front, INCREASING flame length/intensity, rates of spread, and generally DECREASING residence time. What helps pull fire together is the updradts and indrafts of air as the fires burn. Even on flat terrain with no wind, if you drop 2 dots of fire a few feet apart, they will pull toward each other due to this effect. Yes, with terrain or wind, head fire will naturally push to the backing fire, but if you consistently pull ring-head ignition patterns under similar conditions, you will start to see an effect of sparser ground veg and higher scorch on trees near where it all comes together due to that area of highly increased intensity where everything comes together. Fire information and outreach is a passion of mine, maybe we should chat about a partnership on fire!
Yes sir--nothin better than getting home from burning with all your clothes smelling like a rank forest fire and blowing smoke rings out of your lungs!!
One thing that needs to be talked about is understanding your weather! Landowners need to know humidity, wind direction, and other factors that can turn a prescribed fire into a wildfire!
Absolutely.
These videos are great
Glad to hear it! We have a few more on burning yet this year!
Great example of a woodland Rx burn!
Yessir!
its that time fellas!
Right around the corner!!
What do you mean by the back fire senses the head fire? Is it drawn to the heat or does the smoke move it closer?
The backing fire is "pre heating" the fuel load that the heading fire is about to consume, making it burn much hotter and fast. So, if you want a longer residence time on your fires backing fires might not be your best option. If you want to burn as large of an area as possible as quickly as possible, running backing fire will speed up the burn process.
@Whitetail_Properties I am a full time wildland fire management professional, been doing it for 20 years, and teach wildland fire and fire behavior. This is dead wrong.
Backing fire = lower intensity, slower rate of spread, LONGER residence time (which is the more important piece of the equation when talking topkill of understory and midstory).
Backing fire also does not significantly pre-heat fuels out ahead.
Head fire has more intensity but generally shorter residence time except in slash, if the slash is available to burn and catch, it will continue to throw a heat pulse into the ground for some time well after primary ignitions are complete. This can have detrimental consequences to soil composition and health and damage root structures of trees and plants.
Head fire DOES pre-heat fuels out ahead which contributes to lower fuel moisture, higher fuel temps, which increases flammablity of fuels ahead of the main flaming front, INCREASING flame length/intensity, rates of spread, and generally DECREASING residence time.
What helps pull fire together is the updradts and indrafts of air as the fires burn. Even on flat terrain with no wind, if you drop 2 dots of fire a few feet apart, they will pull toward each other due to this effect.
Yes, with terrain or wind, head fire will naturally push to the backing fire, but if you consistently pull ring-head ignition patterns under similar conditions, you will start to see an effect of sparser ground veg and higher scorch on trees near where it all comes together due to that area of highly increased intensity where everything comes together.
Fire information and outreach is a passion of mine, maybe we should chat about a partnership on fire!
Yes sir--nothin better than getting home from burning with all your clothes smelling like a rank forest fire and blowing smoke rings out of your lungs!!
No doubt!
I fight wildland fire for a living
That would be a tough job we can only imagine..