Prescribed burns are fires deliberately started and maintained by private parties, NGOs, tribal, local, state, and federal officials for the purpose of land management. These fires are started in specific, pre-determined locations and carefully controlled, so they do not cause harm to people, animals, and property.
You may have heard the term “controlled burn” before and think that it is the same thing. However, prescribed burns are different from controlled burns in that they must adhere to specific weather conditions, soil moisture, terrain, labor and equipment, ignition procedures, contingency plans, and more. A controlled burn is a fire that someone starts with the intention to control it, like a campfire.
A campfire can easily turn into an uncontrolled wildfire if the person who started it does not take the necessary precautions. Prescribed burns rarely become wildfires because officials carefully adhere to the parameters of their prescriptions.
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