Learning to Burn
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Learning to Burn
Learning to Burn
Module Objective: What to be aware of when conducting the burn. Actions to keep yourself and others safe when the burn off is occurring.
Firefighters have a series of Standard Orders to keep themselves and their crews safe.
In the US, Standard Order #00 is “Get home safe to our families”
This is the primary objective in undertaking any burning on the farm too!
During the burn, keep aware of changing weather conditions, especially wind speed and relative humidity changes that could increase fire intensity and volatility. Having an offsite person monitor weather data and report changing conditions can alert the burn boss to the increasing chance of escapes and the need for extra vigilance. Be aware of what the weather is doing throughout the day, and throughout the burn, as it changes.
Be aware of the location of your safety zone and know two options for an escape route out of the area to the safety zone.
Know your Watchouts and LACES
Gusty variable wind conditions that fan the fire in a number of directions can change fire behaviour dramatically. The behaviour of fires in light and open fuel types is highly responsive to changes in wind speed and direction.
Such fires often occur:
In New Zealand, the most common contributing factors leading to burn injury at prescribed fires have been shown to be:
| Contributing factors | Number of incidents |
| Burned over by fire/trapped | 7 |
| Working alone | 6 |
| Wind change | 6 |
| Unsuitable clothing for task | 6 |
| No identified safe zone | 5 |
| Working in steep gully | 5 |
| Trying to extinguish fire | 5 |
| Overcome by smoke | 5 |
| Unexpected fire behaviour | 4 |
| Working uphill of fire | 4 |
| Lost communication | 3 |
| Delayed medical assistance | 2 |
| Fire crossed firebreak | 2 |
| Use of flammable chemical | 2 |
| Tripped over | 2 |
Table 1: Contributing factors to injury as a result of farm fire incident (New Zealand)
| Burn injuries | Number of incidents |
| Arms | 8 |
| Hands | 6 |
| Face | 6 |
| Torso | 4 |
| Legs | 3 |
| Mouth | 1 |
| Eyes | 1 |
| Neck | 1 |
Table 2: Most common body parts injured as a result of farm fire incident (New Zealand)
Avoid working near a fire in unburnt fuels. Commence lighting at an anchor point and progress along the flanks. Keep downhill of flames – do not light vegetation when moving up steep slopes. Due to the difficulty to predict where the fire will go in a gully, the risk of oxygen deprivation (due to the swirling fire removing all available oxygen), and the limited opportunities for safety zones or maintaining escape routes –Do not enter a gully and light – leave steep gullies to the helicopter!
Know where others are located when lighting. If a number of people are burning simultaneously, each should be allocated a well defined section to light, and ensure to communicate progress with the others.
It takes a disciplined ignition crew to recognise that some ignition patterns require considerable patience and that it’s wiser not to force the fire, but allow it to develop and achieve the fire behaviour sought in the burn plan.
Keep a close eye on the fire once lit, and alert the crew leader if anything unpredicted occurs. If you notice any changes in the fire behaviour as you work, it is important to communicate this to all parties to ensure safety of all the crew.
In some areas strip lighting is necessary. Where more than one strip at a time is being lighted, great care should be taken to ensure the first burner is always well in advance of the second. Where both sides of a narrow area are being lit, visual and other means of communication should be used so that one side is not lit in advance of the other.
When lighting, stand with the breeze on your back to decrease the chance of smoke inhalation. Lighting should not follow the same direction as a strong wind.
Conduct backburns off the natural firebreaks to increase the area. Lighting from off a firebreak, so you always have a safer area to retreat to should the wind change. When lighting a slope, always ensure you are on the base of the fire, don’t position yourself uphill. The standard procedure is to either light from the base of the slope and follow the fire uphill, alternatively to head down from the top and burn back up to the snowline or firebreak, then move further down the hill using this newly burned area as a new firebreak, progressing in sections down.
If a lookout has been posted who can see the exact location of the escape, the chance of immediately identifying and intercepting the escape is increased. The lookout can supply information to the burn boss, who can reassign crew and equipment to control the escape. Use hand tools, water or wet sacks to put out the small spot fires.
Continue to monitor all fire lines at all times to prevent additional escapes, and reduce or cease ignition until crew members return to their usual locations.
However trying to extinguish the fire when ill equipped may be putting people in greater danger than having the fire escape. Spot fires may also create an entrapment situation.
If the escape is too large for the crew and equipment to handle, the fire service should be called. Call the fire service sooner rather than later. Give the location of any houses or confined animal operations in the path of the fire that will need special protection.
Crew members should move out of the path of the fire into previously identified safety zones. If fire escapes or the wind changes, it is important to follow the plan – go quickly to a safe zone and call in the helicopters.
If smoke is crossing a highway and the highway patrol has not yet arrived, station crew members alongside the road at both sides of the smoke column to flag down cars and stop them from entering the smoke. This prevents vehicle collisions due to smoke on the highway and its associated low visibility. As daylight decreases, the chance of smoke causing a vehicular injury increases.
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Don’t work in isolation.
Staff operating burners are often required to work detached from others in the party. In this case always be in contact with at least one other person (your buddy),and have a reliable means of communication with the main party.
Keep in contact with crew members and crew leader, particularly your buddy, so that multiple fires aren’t lit around the area that others are not aware of. If a message is not relayed to you clearly, ask the person to repeat this.
Everyone should work as a cohesive unit and must not be out of contact during any stages of the burn. It is recommended to be within eye and verbal communication with others at all times. This is so that those lighting ensure they don’t get too far ahead of others that are beating or directing the fire.
The rule for the buddy system is that you work as a pair – entering, working and leaving the fireground together. The purpose of the buddy system is to look out for one another, maintain contact at all times, and if the contact is lost, the buddy must take immediate action to re-establish contact, provide assistance or call for help. The advantages of working together mean that if someone does catch alight, or is in danger, this is both able to be noticed by others; and those not affected can help keep the situation calm and raise the alarm.
Take regular breaks, food and water to avoid fatigue and heat illness When working around fire never underestimate the effects of radiant heat. The damaging effect of heat on your body builds up with the more time working in the heat.
Fires underneath or near power lines can be dangerous. Take steps to protect power lines from fire. Fire and the by-products of burning can destroy wires, insulators and other components of the power lines in addition to the structure/pole. Treat Power lines as live at all times. Water and other chemicals used to extinguish fires should never be directed toward a power line, pole or structure. Smoke and gases from a large fire can create a conductive path for electricity. Electrical arcs (also known as flashovers) can endanger people, animals and property.
Burn injuries may seem minor at first, but the injury can continue to develop and must be cooled and treated urgently. Similarly, smoke inhalation may not show as physical respiratory injury immediately but can develop into inflammation and even pneumonia up to 36 hours after exposure.
Understanding the importance of safe practices while the burn is underway
Knowing how to work safely when operating in vegetation fires.