How to Stop Forest Fires
Forest fires are both natural and man-made. Naturally, dry brush unprotected by cool canopy shade can spontaneously ignite, or lightning strikes can spark huge fires. Heavy rainfall can help naturally extinguish fires; high winds can spread them. Forest fires are also spread in a variety of ways by human beings, accidentally or intentionally, through controlled burning of trees for "slash and burn" farming techniques, or through negligence at campsites.
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Instructions
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Establish a perimeter around the fire, noting prevailing winds and characteristics of the fire. A canopy spreading fire has different characteristics from a ground fire, and determining this is crucial to containing the fire, since forest fires tend to be fast-moving.
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Use earth-movers and sand to dig natural perimeter lines around the boundaries of the fire. This is called a fireline or a firebreak. This may include felling trees and dousing brush, grasses and trees with water outside the line to discourage the fire from spreading past this boundary.
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Dump fire retardants and water from firefighting aircraft onto the hottest parts of the fire. The way to extinguish any fire is to either douse it or deny it of oxygen, and this can be the most difficult and dangerous part of putting out forest fires. Often firefighters use water, but specially concocted chemical solutions and, sometimes, concussion bombs are used to control raging fires.
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Tips & Warnings
The best way to stop forest fires is to prevent them from happening. Learn proper campfire maintenance and always respect burn bans. Douse a fire with water or a mixture of sand and soil until the embers are completely out --- if the fire pit is too hot to touch, the fire is not completely extinguished. Also, make sure that there is adequate clearance above and around a campfire --- if overhanging vegetation catches fire it can cause a canopy spreading blaze.
References
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