Module 23: Monitoring the fire

Managing the fire

Module Objective: To know why it’s important to monitor your burn and what to look out for.

Monitoring the fire

Fires must always be supervised because it could get out of control, and you need to be quick to respond to minimise the impact. In most cases the landowner/manager will take on the role of a supervisor and appoint staff to help monitor the burn (depending on the size of the area to burn).

The burn supervisor should ensure that all helpers are familiar with their role and what is expected of them.

To sufficiently monitor the fire, you must:

• Always have sufficient manpower available.
• Post lookouts
• All equipment and persons involved in the burning operation should be under the control of one person.
• Maintain monitoring of your burn until the fire is out.
• The fire must be extinguished before supervision ceases with someone being responsible for a final check.
• Extinguish fires before dusk.
• Always ensure that fires are completely extinguished by sunset.
• Ensure all operatives are accounted for before departing the site.

There are two roles, involved in monitoring, lookouts and patrols. Depending on the size of your planned burn, you may only need one lookout or several patrols.

A lookout role is looking at the wider situational awareness of the fire ground. A lookout is generally positioned further away from the fire so that they can have a full overview of the entire fire ground. Their role is to watch for changes in weather, fire behaviour and the potential for escape. As part of the lookout role, you need to monitor the perimeter and adjoining land for any spot fires. Be prepared to respond to changing weather conditions or fire behaviour and if necessary, warn the supervisor and ground crews if the conditions change.

A patrol’s role is to monitor the perimeter of the fire to ensure it does not escape and act quickly to extinguish any break away fires and notify the supervisor of an escape. Patrols must be in greatest number behind the lighting party, stationed on the cleared firebreak area, and as the line of fire lengthens, they need to spread out along the length of the boundary. You will need enough patrols to:

• keep a strict watch on the fuel outside the burn area, to ensure spot fires do not get a good hold before they are detected.
• allow each member to have ready visual and vocal contact with the other monitors and your supervisor – this is vital should a call come for assistance to cope with a break-away fire
• have escape routes and safety zones identified and make them known to all personnel.
• once light up is complete, mop up and patrol the area day and night to ensure it is safe and doesn’t rekindle

Dangers to look out for

The greatest danger exists along the perimeter firebreak where it has been freshly lit, bordering on flammable fuel outside the burn.

Flare ups

Flare-ups can occur doing the mop-up stages when you and your staff relax and think your fire is controlled and contained. In the event of a sudden flareup or flame across a break, lie flat on the ground rather than running.

Wind gusts can suddenly increase a fire’s intensity and flame lengths, especially in light fuels during wind gusts can cause burning material to drop or it will drop outside the burn area (cross your fire breaks) and start new spot fires. An increase in wind and temperature may lift a surface fire into the unburnt overhead fuels.

Smoke reducing visibility

Make sure staff are positioned upwind of the smoke to reduce visibility issues and smoke inhalation of staff helping with the burn.

If the burn happens to be on the lee edge of the area being burnt, there is even more reason for patrols to be close together because smoke blowing over them will restrict their visibility.

Flames come across a firebreak

Rapidly suppress any new fire starts (spot fires) outside of the planed burn area, if it is safe to do so, to prevent a fire getting out of hand.

If the escape is too large to control, retreat to the safe zone using the known escape route. Call 111 immediately if at any point you are concerned about a risk to people, property, or the environment.

Post-burn mop-up and monitoring

Mop Up

Mopping up (or blacking out) is the process of checking the entire perimeter of the burn area to ensure all fires or smoldering materials are out. This could include chips, logs, dead trees and small areas still burning.

Mopping up can commence as soon as the burn objectives are achieved.

Mop up promptly and completely when practical. Consider and make plans for any variation in forecasted weather that may change a prescribed fire into a damaging wildfire, increase the pollution in smoke-sensitive areas, or create a visibility problem on adjacent roads.

Address the highest risk areas first progressing to lower risk areas. A burn area is considered safe when no smouldering material is found within it or around it, though even at this stage you will still need to keep a close eye on things.

Post Burn monitoring

After the burn is complete, check the burn in the days and weeks following burning to ensure its completely out and cannot escape.

When strong winds occur, it can fan the fire back into life and transfer embers, creating unwanted fires.

Piles of burnt vegetation can hold heat for months after burning. Check piles or windrows in the days and weeks following burning to ensure it is cold in the centre. Turn piles or windrows to ensure complete burning of the material. Do not restock any piles with fresh fuel for a later burn as there is the risk of the fire re-igniting.

Weed control

Fire will stimulate the germination of many plant species, including weeds. That’s why controlling weeds that emerge after a burn is important. Weed control that is planned carefully in conjunction with burns can reduce the time taken to manage the infestation

Learning outcome:

Know the importance of monitoring and how to safely monitor the burn.