WFO Representatives Experience Controlled Burn in Kentucky
Here we see E.J. Bunzendahl of the National Forest Service providing a briefing prior to everyone heading to the burn site. The spot forecast for the burn was the first item that was reviewed during the briefing. Bunzendahl read the spot forecast and also noted that weather observations were to be taken every half hour throughout the day. She also reviewed the assignments that each person had for the day, and discussed about safety and contingency plans.
After everyone drove to the burn site a test burn was conducted. At this location there was a small loop off of the main gravel road, so the test burn site was surrounded by roads on all sides. The test burn is conducted to ensure that burning conditions are acceptable. If things burn too hot, or if the ground is too wet and things don't burn well enough, the burn can be postponed. On this day the test burn was not as hot as they would have liked it, but with the forecast weather conditions it was felt that things should improve by early afternoon.
The burn begins! The sign posted on the tree is a warning sign and states that the area is a prescribed burn location. Before beginning, a bull horn was used to alert anyone in the area that a fire was about to begin. Hiking trails leading into and across the area had already been closed, and a check for parked cars at the trailheads was also made.
This picture shows the smoke from the burn settling into the valleys. Even though the mixing height was forecast to be 4,900 feet above ground level, it was explained to us that since the fire was not as hot as they would have liked, the fact that the smoke was settling into the valley was not surprising. One of the Forest Service spotters at the point where this picture was taken noted that it is always interesting to watch how the wind affects the fire and smoke. In this case it looked like the wind would curl downward as it crossed the ridge and would take some of the smoke into the valley. One of the jobs of the spotter was to report on any spotting that may occur at his location on the adjacent ridge.
Return to 04/06/05 issue of NOAA's NWS Focus
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