How Can I Prepare For My Burn?
There are a variety of ways that you can help facilitate your prescribed burn. One of the most important things you can do is ensure you have good firebreaks around your burn area. We can perform all necessary firebreak installation and “prep” prior to burning. Landowners may also establish and maintain their own firebreaks, following the guidelines below.
Please follow these recommendations:
Firebreaks should be a width equivalent to at least twice the height of adjacent fuels. The wider, the better!
Grass firebreaks should be mowed as short as possible (<3”). The less duff, the better!
Mowing grass firebreaks in the fall prior to a spring burn is preferred. This avoids delays in firebreak installation due to snowy and muddy conditions in early spring, and generally produces less thatchy firebreaks.
Woodland firebreaks should be raked or leafblown to a 6-foot width of bare soil, free of logs, sticks and leaves.
Remove small flammable structures (e.g. birdhouses, benches), trash and debris from the burn unit.
Avoid piling sticks and logs along the edge of burn units. If possible, remove grass and leaves from around any object you wish to protect from fire, like utility boxes, birdhouses, ornamental trees, etc. We recommend mowing, raking and/or leaf-blowing a firebreak equivalent in width to at least twice the height of the surrounding fuel.
Identify water sources on site, including water spigots from a house or access to a pond or stream. Let us know if water is turned on, or if we have the capacity to turn water on.
Let us know about any areas or objects needing special protection from fire, heat, or smoke.
Make us aware of any hazards within or near a burn unit, such as power poles, LP tanks, sinkholes, etc.
Indicate whether you are willing to help with neighbor notification by either providing us with a best means of contacting your neighbors, or by contacting neighbors yourself. Give your neighbors a heads up that you are expecting a burn.
Help identify best places for equipment and vehicles to stage during the burn and best access to the burn unit with equipment, if possible.
Expect to hear from us in early fall or early spring checking in on site conditions. We may ask to visit the site prior to burning.
Indicate your preferred mechanism of communication, either email, text, or phone call.
good firebreaks lead to quick, safe, and low cost burns
THANK YOU!
