Hi, I'm
Mark McClellan,
Stewardship Coordinator
with the Georgia
Forestry Commission.
And welcome
to another virtual field
day series
where we discuss
the most common topics
forest stewardship.
As you can imagine, prescribed
burning is one of
the most effective
and inexpensive tools
a land manager has to ensure
a healthy forest.
In today's episode,
we have invited R.T.
Lumpkin, our Prescribed
Fire Center Coordinator,
to discuss how to properly plan
and safely conduct
a prescribed fire
on your property.
So you may have heard
that prescribed fire
a very beneficial tool.
Some might think of it
as a very dangerous
or even risky event.
While we do need
to take precautions
to ensure our burn goes well,
it can often be a very simple
or uneventful occasion.
When you're cooking your meal
at night
on your grill or stove.
Do you worry about
burning your meal?
Me, either.
It's because
we understand the process.
So what is prescribed fire?
It is the application of fire
in a knowledgeable manner,
in a specific area,
under specific circumstances
to accomplish an objective.
Many plants and animals
have become very dependent
on fire to maintain healthy,
vibrant populations.
So why you are burning
as one of the most
important things
to consider as a landowner
by definition
of prescribed fire
should accomplish an objective.
Some of the common
objectives are site
preparation for tree planning,
reducing the risk of hazardous
fuels, promoting
wildlife habitat
and even promoting
some of our native species,
like our longleaf.
Forest Stewardship
plans are a great resource
for private landowners.
They contain stand maps
that identify
areas to be burned
for the next several years.
If you're looking for a
more detailed
educational experience,
the Georgia Forestry Commission
offers several opportunities.
First is a prescribed
fire certification class.
These classes offer an in-depth
look into prescribed fire
across Georgia.
If you're looking for a more
hands on experience,
Learn and Burns
could be a viable option.
You will be invited to attend
a private landowner
or public lands track,
and we will actually apply
prescribed fire.
You will hold a drip
torch and work
closely with a mentor
so that you can ask questions
and gain
a better understanding of fire
as the day goes along.
Another program
we offer in west central
Georgia is lift
or landowner field trips.
This allows
you and I
to work very closely together
to visit a burn
that is happening currently
or has recently happened
so that you can gain
a better understanding
of prescribed fire.
A Burn plan is a critical part
of any prescribed burn.
It lists
the critical items
needed to ensure
your burn goes well.
These plans contain
general information
like the landowner name,
how many acres
are being burned,
where you're burning,
where fire breaks
will be installed,
firing methods
that will be used,
and weather conditions.
It even has a list of
commonly used parameters
that generally result
in good prescribed burns.
Smoke sensitive areas,
contingency plans,
emergency contacts
and mop up procedures
along with your burn
permit are often
common parts of a burn plan.
As part of your
planning process,
always check
with your local municipality
and your local GFC office
to ensure all local laws
are followed.
A blank copy of the Burn
Plan can be found
on our web site,
along with information
about smoke management.
Smoke management
is crucial
to ensuring a successful burn.
Please visit our website
to utilize items like V smoke
to predict
and map out the smoke impacts
around your planned fire.
Depending upon where you are
in the state, different cost
share opportunities
are available
to help you offset
any out-of-pocket expenses
related to prescribed burning.
PPE or personal protective
equipment is a crucial part
of any prescribed burn .
It ensures the safety
of everyone involved.
Recommended clothing options
for any prescribed
burn are long
sleeve Nomex shirt
and Nomex pants.
A hard hat,
leather gloves,
leather lace up boots
and eye protection.
When Nomex is unavailable.
Cotton is your next
best option.
Avoid synthetic materials
like polyester
because it will melt
when exposed to direct heat.
Having the right tool
for the job
can make any project safer,
faster and more efficient.
Here in west central Georgia,
we have prescribed
burn trailers
that are available to rent.
The rental fees
from this trailer
actually keep up
the maintenance
on all the equipment and tools
that are contained within it.
When it comes to
drip torches,
we recommend
you use a mixture of diesel
fuel and gas.
This should always be
three parts
diesel, one part gas.
I have found it easy
to fill up at a gas station
to ensure
that you get the proper amounts
and each can to
maintain safety.
Installing firebreaks
prior to your burn
is a must. There
typically about six
to eight feet of mineral soil.
And these are
typically accomplished
with farm tractors, bulldozers,
wet lining or hand equipment.
Other things that you can use
as a firebreak
would be natural areas
like streams, creeks or rivers.
When weather conditions
are finally right to burn your property, all prescribed
burns should start
with a test fire.
This is a small representation
of how the day will go.
These are very
small areas
about 15 to 20 foot square
and ensure
that objectives and safety
concerns are met for the day.
Terrain constantly influences
fire behavior.
As you can see,
fire moves a lot
faster up a hill
than it does downhill
or across the hill.
You can typically expect
a prescribed burn
to move about ten times
faster, up a significant slope
than it will on flat ground.
Always keep this in mind
when applying different
firing techniques.
Just like terrain,
the time of day influences
fire behavior.
The earlier in the day
it is, the higher
the humidity and the lower
the temperatures are.
The later in the day
it gets,
the lower the RH becomes
or relative humidity
and the temperature
becomes higher,
allowing more fuels to become
available and ready to burn.
Once everything
is considered to be a go,
you should advance
a backing fire.
A backing
fire is a short flame
that advances off
of your mineral soil firebreak
and increases
the distance of that firebreak
as it proceeds.
So if you fire has advanced
eight to ten
feet off of your firebreak
and you have an eight foot
mineral soil break,
you now
have a 16 to 18 foot
wide firebreak.
Once you're
backing fires
advanced about 20 to 30 feet
off of your firebreak,
you typically use
other firing methods
to complete the burn.
These fire methods
include flanking,
great ignition.
or head fires.
You monitor these conditions
as the day goes along and vary
these firing techniques
to meet your objectives.
It's now about 1:00
in the afternoon
and the fire passed
through here,
probably 30 minutes ago.
The fire accomplished
exactly what we wanted it
to do.
A low small flame
about two
to three feet in height,
and it has top-killed
a lot of the hardwood species
that grow in the understory.
This is good for our native
wildlife habitat
and promoting native grasses
and forage to grow.
Mop up is a crucial part
of any prescribed burn.
We often recommend
a minimum of 30 feet
in being cold out,
meaning this debris the smoking
right here on the edge
either needs to be extinguished
with water
or moved further interior
so that it does not cause
an escape problem tonight or
tomorrow or in the future.
It is always a
good idea to
return to your burn site
several weeks after the burn.
Just to evaluate
the effectiveness.
This area was burned
about two and a half months ago
and we wanted to top kill
our hardwood sprouts.
We can see that
that has been
successfully accomplished
and we met our objectives.
Thanks R.T.
for teaching us
about prescribed fire.
To learn more about this topic and other
topics, please visit
our website gatrees dot org.
We hope you enjoyed
today's episode and
we'll see you next time.