Identifying and Reducing Wildfire Risks Patrick Jones Timothy Barentine Maxx Helfer Willy Weeks

What is Prescribed Burning? Using a controlled fire to remove any extra underbrush that fuels a wildfire and crowds up a habitat This reduces the risk of a wildfire starting and spreading This also improves the soil quality, allows seeds to spread easier, and decreases the amount of disease in trees The underbrush can be burned over a large area, or gathered up and burned in piles These “cleansing” are necessary for some species of plants and animals to thrive and do happen as a part of the natural cycle.

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Why This is Important In the past couple years, Colorado has experienced devastating wildfires that have cause millions of dollars in damage and even loss of life If we could have taken actions towards reducing the risk of wildfires in these at risk areas, the fires could have been prevented or lessened in intensity More funding should be directed towards fire mitigation and prescribed burning because the cost of maintaining these at-risk areas is much less than repairing the damages caused by the fires http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/000/cache/boise-wildfire_91_600x450.jpg

Why Fix Something that Works In 2012, a prescribed burn raged out of control near Denver, Colorado killing two and damaging 900 homes. This caused a ban in Colorado on prescribed burning. In 2013, the ban was lifted and strict guidelines were put into place to prevent controlled burns from getting out of control. Although it’s not banned, area’s in need of prescribed burning are under the same conditions of drought in which the controlled fire that got out of hand did in 2012. Although prescribed burning can greatly reduce the risk of a wildfire, another prescribed burn that gets out of control could force another ban and halt the mitigation progress in Colorado. Finding a way to control prescribed burning in dry environments will greatly reduce the risks of lighting a fire in these conditions. This in turn will allow for prescribed burning in areas where it is not allowed.

Prescribed Burning- Pros Restores balance to wildlife areas Removes invasive species Restarts plant growth Increases ecological diversity by dispersing surviving plants and allowing new species to be brought into the burned area Maintains ecological processes Recycles needed materials in plant and wildlife processes Dead plants and animals slow the return of nutrients to the soil if not decomposed rapidly  Soil The soil in low to medium heat fires generally receives the benefit of receiving the nutrients it lost

Prescribed Burning- Cons Wildlife suffer Small birds and surface dwelling land mammals are vulnerable to wildfires as they cannot escape for find shelter easily Wildlife generally flees the area ranging for a couple of hours to days Altered surface conditions alter aquatic habitats through change in temperatures of water by factors such as increased sediment, ash covered slurry and flooding. Water patterns altered Wildfires destroy much of the vegetation leaving nothing to absorb water being received by the area Floods caused by heavy rains on a burn scar will cause erosion

Managing Prescribed Burning Management techniques Timing Target Plant is at the weakest and least likely to survive compared to desired species Target plant is at a vulnerable stage in its life cycle Moisture content is monitored to make plants more or less flammable Fuel and Ignition Amount and distribution as well as firebreaks are taken into account to control the temperature and burn areas of a prescribed burn Wind is taken into account in terms of where the fire will be moved and places to be monitored. This affects the point where ignition will take place Single or multiple fires can be started at once in order to accomplish the goal of the prescribed fire

Managing Prescribed Burning (cont.) Management Methods Physical removal of dead plant life Burning to reveal invasive plant life to be removed Herbicide used to kill plant life to create fuel Herbicide used after a burn to kill invasive species Grazing to control fuel availability and therefore heat of a fire Grazing to remove invasive species after a fire

Materials 24, 3x10 feet sheets of plywood Supporting wood planks 24, 4 feet long 2x4’s 96, 2’’ flat head screws Drill 61235 kilograms of dirt 60 Pinion Pine trees approximately the same size 60 Douglas-fir trees approximately the same size 40 dead trees approximately the same size 222.967 square meters of underbrush 2 fire crews with capability of putting out a fire in an emergency

Materials (cont) Chain saws to cut branches Ladders Trucks for transporting dirt and trees Warehouse to store and dry materials 6 industrial heaters 10 industrial fans Prescribed burning crew Fire extinguishers Fire suit Camera Computer Stop watch

Our Experiment Testable Question: Is clearing dead trees and trimming limbs up to 10 feet on the trunks of live trees an effective way of controlling prescribed burns in deciduous forests located in dry climates? Hypothesis: If dry decaying trees and branches, above ten feet on all the trees in the prescribed burn area, are removed, then the burn will have a less likely chance of getting out of control and endangering the area around it.

Constructing 4, 30x30 feet model forests Our Experiment

Our Experiment (cont) Models 1 and 2: Notify local residence surrounding the test site of the tests. Heat a large warehouse to 40 degrees Celsius using industrial heaters and spread out forest materials. Keep materials in the warehouse for 8 hours to ensure that all the materials are low in moisture to simulate a dry climate. After 8 hours, outside of large warehouse, construct 2, 30x30 feet model forests. Model: Construct forms using plywood. Place 15 Pinion pines and 15 Douglas-firs into the model Fill the form with dirt 2 feet high. Add 10 dead trees leaning 4 up against 2 Pinion pines and 2 Douglas-firs. Fill the rest of the form with underbrush. Begin prescribed burning procedures on the first model using fans to simulate wind gusts. Let fire burn and record how long it takes for the fire to burn all of the underbrush and itself out. Record if the fire moves to the crown level and begins a crown fire. If flame height exceeds 10 feet, this should be noted as it could be a factor leading to an out of control fire. Record the movement of embers through the air if any and record burning on trees. Take apart forms and recycle dirt for next models.

Our Experiment (cont) Models 3 and 4: Notify local residence surrounding the test site of the tests. Heat a large warehouse to 40 degrees Celsius using industrial heaters and spread out forest materials. Keep materials in the warehouse for 8 hours to ensure that all the materials are low in moisture to simulate a dry climate. After 8 hours, outside of large warehouse, construct 2, 30x30 feet model forests. Model: Construct forms using plywood. Place 15 Pinion pines and 15 Douglas-firs into the model Fill the form with dirt 2 feet high. Cut branches off of trees less than 10 feet from the base of the tree. Fill the rest of the form with underbrush. Begin prescribed burning procedures on the first model using fans to simulate wind gusts. Let fire burn and record how long it takes for the fire to burn all of the underbrush and itself out. Record if the fire moves to the crown level and begins a crown fire. If flame height exceeds 10 feet, this should be noted as it could be a factor leading to an out of control fire. Record the movement of embers through the air if any and record burning on trees. Take apart forms and recycle dirt

Grant Proposal What we need: $500,000 Cover the cost of: Materials Procedure For Further Testing Different Scenarios Better ways to prescribe burn

Final Goal Gather the research we need If the data supports our hypothesis Spread the word Provide training to local Fire departments Implement new regulations for the removal of dead trees and branches in major forests especially those near large civilian development If data doesn’t support our hypothesis Research why our hypothesis was not supported Draw up new experiment based on the research gathered Prevent the tragic loss Colorado endured due to major wild fires

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Bibliography (cont.) "Public Information Map." Esri. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.  "Reasons For Prescribed Fire In Forest Resource Management - A Guide for Prescribed Fire in Southern Forests." Reasons For Prescribed Fire In Forest Resource Management - A Guide for Prescribed Fire in Southern Forests. N.p., 24 Mar. 2003. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.  US weather- current temperatures map [Map]. (2014, February 21). Retrieved from http://www.weathercentral.com/weather/us/maps/current_ temperatures.html US weather- relative humidity map [Map]. (2014, February 21). Retrieved from http://www.weathercentral.com/weather/us/maps/humidity .html

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