BASS RIVER TOWNSHIP — Firefighters walked the edge of the dense pine forest and dripped gasoline from metal canisters, creating a trail of flame that would eventually ignite a half-square-mile of woody underbrush.
Thick, white smoke quickly made them invisible, even though they wore reflective yellow jackets and some drove red pickup trucks outfitted with steel brush guards. They were members of the state Forest Fire Service who were setting a “controlled burn” Thursday morning, a technique the agency uses each winter to reduce the risk of wildfire later in the year.
Controlled burns are literally fighting fire with fire, and the idiom itself can be traced back to early American settlers who also started their own fires to similarly burn up fuel and starve the larger, unexpected fires.
The practice has become decidedly more sophisticated since then. Now, the official phrase is “prescribed burns,” and some very technical planning goes into each one.
Fire wardens examine the types of vegetation in certain areas, sometimes using high-tech 3D imaging technologies, to determine what areas are high risks for future fires.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_c14ee690-6a4e-11e1-8950-001871e3ce6c.html
Thick, white smoke quickly made them invisible, even though they wore reflective yellow jackets and some drove red pickup trucks outfitted with steel brush guards. They were members of the state Forest Fire Service who were setting a “controlled burn” Thursday morning, a technique the agency uses each winter to reduce the risk of wildfire later in the year.
Controlled burns are literally fighting fire with fire, and the idiom itself can be traced back to early American settlers who also started their own fires to similarly burn up fuel and starve the larger, unexpected fires.
The practice has become decidedly more sophisticated since then. Now, the official phrase is “prescribed burns,” and some very technical planning goes into each one.
Fire wardens examine the types of vegetation in certain areas, sometimes using high-tech 3D imaging technologies, to determine what areas are high risks for future fires.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_c14ee690-6a4e-11e1-8950-001871e3ce6c.html