May 1, 2008 12:58 pm US/Eastern
The Burn Zone
Doug Kammerer
(CBS 3)
This is the time of year that you'll start to hear Kathy and me talking about "red flag" warnings when fire danger is high. But steps are already being taken to reduce the danger by starting fires in order to prevent them. I recently got to experience firsthand what it's like in the burn zone.
A forest has everything a fire needs: Fuel, air, and room to grow. So firewarden Steven Holmes is burning this forest to save it.
Every spring, he lights prescribed -- or controlled -- burns.
"We do burning for hazard reduction. They won't take off as quick," said Holmes. "And two, if a fire comes into an area we made a prescribed burn, the fire'll drop down, making it a lot easier for us to control."
And control is critical. You remember that ferocious Pinelands fire last May that damaged or destroyed more than 40 homes and scorched more than 17,000 acres.
A cool spring day is perfect for a burn. Just a little gasoline gets the fire going. The fires are placed strategically to meet together.
"As they get closer, they'll draw together because of the convective current," said Holmes. "This one is burning with the wind."
It really speeds up when you get the wind coming at you. The fire didn't get me, but it did burn up pine needles, brush, and other risky debris.
Fire can start and burn at any time of year, but it's spring when the forest is most vulnerable. That's because the sun can get through the trees and dry out the forest floor. You also have less humidity and more wind. The risk only grows as the temperatures climb.
"It's amazing, just going from 50 to 60 degrees, how much harder the fires do burn," said Holmes.
Just look at the smoke Chopper 3 could see from those burns.
In a real fire, a forest doesn't have a smoke detector, unless you count people like Harry Fertig. On sunny days, he's 100 feet up in one of several fire towers, watching for smoke.
"If the wind is blowing hard, it's a day you don't take your eyes off of anything. You just keep looking around," said Fertig.
For all this fire's fury, it's gentle on plant life. It only takes off the top layer.
Then it's off to start a new fire, a new burn zone that will hopefully save the forest.
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