What is "prescribed burning"?

Forest fires are a serious problem which is why we are always being warned about fire safety when we go into the forest. Therefore it will come as surprise to quite a few people to learn that many forest fires are set intentionally. These are called prescribed burns and they are an essential part of forest management.

A prescribed burn occurs when a controlled fire is set in a forested area. The reason that this is done is to remove the undergrowth and dead trees and plants. The reason that it is necessary is that for the most part humans have been controlling the frequency with which forest fires occur. We do this in large part to protect man made areas. The problem is that the forest actually needs regular fires; they are what keep the forest healthy.

The reason that they forest needs the fires to remain healthy is that the fires get rid of all the old trees and plants have died. This allows new ones to grow in their place. After the fire new vegetation starts to appear very rapidly. Without the prescribed burns this would not be able to happen and the forest would eventually die.

The other reason that prescribed burns are done is for fire prevention reasons. Since it is important to protect property it is necessary to make sure that fires don't get out of the control. This is done by using a controlled burn during the cooler times of year when fires are not all that common so that when fire season comes around there is less to burn and the fire will be less severe.

One of the problems with prescribed burning is that the two goals are often at cross purposes. On the one hand the forest needs the fires to remain healthy on the other hand the authorities want to keep the fires under control by limiting the amount that can burn. There are a lot of people who believe that the forests should be allowed to burn naturally. While this would certainly increase the danger to property it could be managed.

The other reason that people have an issue with prescribed burning is that the smoke can cause breathing problems for a lot of people. Of course the smoke would be worse with a natural fire but these are fairly rare so people who are sensitive to smoke generally prefer the natural fires.

Clearly if you are going to do a prescribed burn it is necessary to make sure that you are very careful so that the fire does not spread. This is why they are almost always done in the cool, wet months to reduce the risk. In addition a large crew is usually required to be on hand to make sure the fire doesn't spread. Nevertheless more than a few prescribed burns have gotten out of hand.