Simple Precautions For Forest Fires

Large forest fires occur in the USA almost every summer. For example, in the summer of 2015, during the violent forest fires that spread to Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana, hundreds of houses were evacuated and many firemen lost their lives. Even though the National Guard was called in, the fire could not be prevented from spreading over thousands of square kilometers.

Although the fire fighting capabilities are much better compared to the past, it is still very difficult to cope with such large fires with the current capabilities.   It is necessary to spend a lot of time and effort to control and extinguish the fires especially in the forests spreading over wide areas.

Opening long corridors with widths of 50-100 meters in large forests will facilitate the control of fires. The corridors should be arranged in a way that the wooded areas would fall into the shape of a checkerboard: This way, a fire that starts in an area will only spread up to the verges of the road even if it can not be prevented. Due to the width of the corridor, it will be impossible for the fire to spread to other areas by natural means. It is very important that the roads should not be as narrow as 5-10 meters, because in situations where strong winds are present, it will be easier for the fire to spread to the other areas. The corridors should be checked and cleaned frequently to ensure that no dry weed or flammable substances are present on them.

It is sufficient to leave these quite wide fire safety corridors empty to ensure they are useful. Besides, it is possible to benefit from these corridors in different ways.  The middle of the corridor can be used as a way to respond to the fire from land. Additionally, agriculture can be practiced on the both sides of this road. Growing green plants such as lettuce and parsley should be preferred instead of flammable products like cereals.

In these corridors, irrigation channels can be constructed and used in agriculture. Additionally, huge evaporation-resistant water reservoirs can also be constructed. These water reservoirs, which will be used in the same manner as fire hydrants on the streets, can be arranged in such a way that the fire helicopters can benefit from them. This way, the fire can be brought under control quicker by shortening the time required for the helicopter to shuttle between the water source and the fire area.

In addition to creating fire corridors in all current forest areas, the planting in artificially forested areas should be arranged in a way that allows the construction of such corridors.