“Generally speaking, what firefighters were reporting on the ground is that when the fire came into those areas that had been thinned . it had significantly less impact.”
The reports were bittersweet for researchers, who still saw nearly 20 square miles of the preserve burn, but the findings add to a growing body of research about how to make wildfires less explosive by thinning undergrowth and allowing forests to burn periodically as they naturally would do instead of snuffing out every flame.
The Bootleg Fire, now 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers) in size, has ravaged southern Oregon and is the fourth-largest fire in the state s modern history. It s been expanding by up to 4 miles (6 kilometers) a day, pushed by gusting winds and critically dry weather that s turned trees and undergrowth into a tinderbox.
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Jul 20, 2021
2 hrs ago
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Ecologists in a vast region of wetlands and forest in remote Oregon have spent the past decade thinning young trees and using planned fires to try to restore the thick stands of ponderosa to a less fire-prone state.
This week, the nation s biggest burning wildfire provided them with an unexpected, real-world experiment. As the massive inferno half the size of Rhode Island roared into the Sycan Marsh Preserve, firefighters said the flames jumped less from treetop to treetop and instead returned to the ground, where they were easier to fight, moved more slowly and did less damage to the overall forest.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Ecologists in a vast region of wetlands and forest in remote Oregon have spent the past decade thinning young trees and using planned fires to try to restore the thick stands of ponderosa to a less fire-prone state.
This week, the nation s biggest burning wildfire provided them with an unexpected, real-world experiment. As the massive inferno half the size of Rhode Island roared into the Sycan Marsh Preserve, firefighters said the flames jumped less from treetop to treetop and instead returned to the ground, where they were easier to fight, moved more slowly and did less damage to the overall forest.
“Generally speaking, what firefighters were reporting on the ground is that when the fire came into those areas that had been thinned . it had significantly less impact.”
The reports were bittersweet for researchers, who still saw nearly 20 square miles of the preserve burn, but the findings add to a growing body of research about how to make wildfires less explosive by thinning undergrowth and allowing forests to burn periodically as they naturally would do instead of snuffing out every flame.
The Bootleg Fire, now 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers) in size, has ravaged southern Oregon and is the fourth-largest fire in the state s modern history. It s been expanding by up to 4 miles (6 kilometers) a day, pushed by gusting winds and critically dry weather that s turned trees and undergrowth into a tinderbox.
“Generally speaking, what firefighters were reporting on the ground is that when the fire came into those areas that had been thinned . it had significantly less impact.”
The reports were bittersweet for researchers, who still saw nearly 20 square miles of the preserve burn, but the findings add to a growing body of research about how to make wildfires less explosive by thinning undergrowth and allowing forests to burn periodically as they naturally would do instead of snuffing out every flame.
The Bootleg Fire, now 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers) in size, has ravaged southern Oregon and is the fourth-largest fire in the state s modern history. It s been expanding by up to 4 miles (6 kilometers) a day, pushed by gusting winds and critically dry weather that s turned trees and undergrowth into a tinderbox.