Controlled Burn In King George

by Neil Richard

With wildfires becoming more and more common across the country and around the globe, I was delighted to hear about the Virginia Department of Forestry preparing to do a prescribed or controlled burn in King George. The property owner, Derek Wasser, reportedly promised his friends hot dogs and beer but none were in sight when I arrived. Instead, our small group hung around and traded stories while we waited for the Forestry Department to arrive.

Fire just starting.

The fire behaved and stayed to the left of the road.

For those unfamiliar with forestry work, the level of safety and redundancy the small, four man team the state used, may have been surprising. The state had several vehicles on hand, including heavy equipment to cut an emergency fire line as well as a water and foam truck. Each member of the Forestry crew also had their own personal protective equipment. In what looked like a giant radio strapped to his chest, one Forestry worker actually carried an emergency fire shelter. The shelter is designed to act as a heat shield that fire fighters can hide under should the fire get out of control and trap crews. Aside from their specialized equipment, like drip torches, they also had basic tools like shovels and rakes.

Can you spot the Forestry worker?

The underbrush and detritus burned but the trees did not.

The lead Forestry worker held a safety briefing with his crew and then drove to the end of the property and started the burn. Three of the Forestry workers walked through the woods at regular intervals with their drip torch setting a line of fire. The specially designed torches would drip a constant line of a diesel and gasoline mixture that would pass the lit wick. This essentially left a line of fire behind them as they walked. As they got to the end of the section that was being burned, they'd turn and come back to the other side just like a farmer plowing his fields. Wasser and his friends helped keep an eye on the fire line to make sure it didn't jump the road and to make sure it didn't endanger any structures or equipment on the property. Thanks to the professionalism and experience of the fire crew, this really meant that they stood around talking and staying warm while occasionally stomping out a tiny flame that would creep too far the wrong way.

Not much left behind.

The breeze was light but the flames would periodically reach a dry patch of dry pine needles and you'd hear the occasional whoosh as it caught. With most of the smoke going straight up, visibility on the edges was good and as you walked the road you could feel the heat ebb and flow depending on how much fuel was on the forest floor.

The view from a few miles down the road.

Because the section of woods was only about ten acres, the Forestry crew made quick work of the job, leaving behind a blackened stretch of woods that would be healthier in the spring and safer from any threat of forest fires in the near future. You can learn more about the Virginia Department of Forestry on their website here.

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