Is there any way to guard against wildfires?

Controlled burns are used to reduce fuel and protect certain areas. See this Wikipedia article.

I think economics right now could have something to do with it. If a real fire were to break out during a controlled burn there would be more work to control both. It takes a lot of man power to manage many controlled burns. Possibly liabilities if the thick smoke from them cover an area it would paralyze traffic for hours or cause as many problems. It seems we are at the mercy of the dry weather each time.

You cannot control Mother Nature.

Controlled burnings could easily become out of control and this is a downside to your suggestion, in addition to the cost and manpower involved.

We have lots of controlled burns up near our cabin. We also trim trees and brush to keep fires away from our cabin if one breaks out. There are lots of measures one can take but in the end, fires are sometimes a natural cycle of life in the wilderness. Not man caused but fires from lightning and drought.

Those of us who live in California’s wildfire areas (most of the hilly areas of the state) know there is quite a bit of defensive measures that can be taken.

There should be a defensive perimeter of 20 – 50 feet around all structures with all possible fuel removed. Roofs should be cleared of debris and leaves or pine needles, and overhanging trees should be cut back. And roofs should be made of falme resistant material, not cedar shake.

There are also extensive firebreaks of 20 feet cut through most of the open space around here. Our local fire department actually does extensive reviews on the ground and in the air to make sure people have cut weeds and have cleared debris.

There used to be controlled burns done around here until about 15 years ago when one got out of control and ended up burning about 500 acres of open space. The wind changed in mid afternoon and started burning in the wrong direction. Even with fire equipment in place, it took a while to get it back in control. It’s not done in our county anymore.

As @john65pennington says, though, fires will happen, and will destroy large areas. We had dry lightning here Friday night that started five fires in less than an hour on Mt Diablo. Luckily, the fire department had anticipated it and was ready.

Ending clearcutting would help a lot. A lot of the reason that wildfires get so out of hand is because the natural systems in place to keep them smaller have largely been thrown out of whack. Plus, clearcutting often makes slash piles, which themselves are fuel for fires. Add to that the defoliant that is often sprayed, leading to dried out areas that could otherwise have become covered in brush, and you have great circumstances for out of control fires.

I’d like to see legalized collection of firewood for home heating. I’m sure there are safety issues I am missing but that would certainly be a good way to get rid of the excess fuel and reduce dependence on oil. I use drops on my land to heat my home. I rarely need to cut anything.down.

The fire departments around here use controlled fires if it’s been a really dry year. The problem is that all it takes is an unexpected gust of wind to go from controlled to uncontrolled. The area my grandma lives in is well known for wild fires, and a lot of her neighbors that own acres of land often bring in heards of mules or sheep to help clear out some of the brush, but there have been several fatal car accidents from people hitting the animals at night.

@worriedguy That would be great, except the particulate from wood fires sure adds to the local air pollution. I live in an area where the coldest nights have little air movement, so the smoke just stays.

@zenvelo And that wouldn’t happen if they burned out in the wildfires? In that regard, it’s still a net reduction in air particulates.

To add to my earlier comment, more widespread forest-gardening would go a long way.

@incendiary_dan I agree that enlightened forest management would be better.

I did read in one of the reports from Texas that a subdivision that was wiped out seemed to find it fashionable to not clean up pine needles; that the roofs of many houses were covered in 6 to 12 inches of dry needles, and the firefighters could do little to stop the flames.

@zenvelo You are thinking of the old style boxes. I have one of the new, reburner type woodburners with an afterburner stage. These are not your granddaddy’s woodburners. There is no smoke, none, nada. It is amazing. Some of then have catalytic converters which go a long way but these are fantastic. There is smoke during the initial light off but once it kicks on it is clean.

@worriedguy Wow, that sounds interesting. We get winter spare the air days with no woodburning allowed. I wonder if one of those would be okay.

The best way to control wild fires is to stay away. Intervention will most often cause flammable wood to build up. If intervention is required then I suggest people going in there regularly and start controlled fires. This is the best way.