Fire Breaks

[jburd641]

This may seem like a silly question but I'm curious as to how the fire breaks in the pines work. It seems to me that any fires would easily jump them.
My one and only guess is that they keep the matting of pine needles from spreading fire on the ground when the major fire is out.
Can someone please fill me in on these?

 

[MarkBNJ]

I think the trenching is for the purpose you describe: breaking up the humus of the forest floor, which often acts to conduct fires below ground level from one spot to another. I don't think any feature narrower than a feedstrip would keep fire from jumping across in a stiff breeze.

 

[jburd641]

Thanks Mark.

 

[Medford Piney]

I believe they are actually there for the reason you discribed and more important as a break line to contain back fires during the event of a forest fire and during prescribed burns. I believe there is someone that belongs to the fire service here and I'd bet he'll correct us if the assumptions are alittle off...

 

[firetech792]

Are you refering to the dirt roads through out the PBs or the actual plow lines or trenches going through the woods?

 

[jburd641]

I'm talking about the plow lines and trenches.

 

[firetech792]

The plow lines cut down through the root system, cutting off a any means of escape after a fire. And also used for prescribed burning anchor points as some one suggested above. Also to break up large blocks that are going to be prescibe burned. So each block can be lit systematically. And you are right about fires jumping these lines. If a fast moving fire can jump four lanes of the GSP, then you can see that these plow lines will do little to stop a wind pushed fire.

Pete

 

[jburd641]

Thanks for the info Pete.

 

[Ben Ruset]

That's pretty cool. I never thought it was a mini bulldozer doing it. I thought it was more like a ditchwitch sort of tool.

 

[ZZ3GMC]

I never saw the machinery either, that is pretty cool! Did you ever get one of those stuck? Ive seen the fire cuts go through some pretty wet areas.

 

[firetech792]

From time to time they do get stuck but not very often. For wet/swampy areas we have a "Widetrac", which is the same small type tractor but with wider tracs to distribute the weight better.
Pete

 

[YETI]

Pete, are there alot, if any, trees that need to be removed in order for these machines to make the trenches?

Paul

 

[Phil from Philly]

cool picture, i always wondered how those trenches were made

 

[woodjin]

Having lived in an area for so long where they were always making new fire breaks I couldn't believe I never saw the machine that did it. Now I have. Thanks for the pic.

Jeff

 

[LongIslandPiney]

Firebreaks also make great paths in the warm season, to avoid the ticks ya know. :rofl:

 

[jburd641]

I don't like walking in them myself. I discovered this today walking the white trail at Batsto. I don't like being so low to the ground or the fact that it was such loose sand. I did like seeing that firebreaks actually work when I got near the end of the loop. There's a great area right before you get to Washington Pike that has one side of wide open pines and the other side is dense underbrush that hasn't burned in a long time. Pretty cool.