Combatendo fogo com fogo: protegendo sequóias

As the flames advanced towards the famous grove of enormous forests located in Sequóia Parque Nacional, bombeiros battled a fogo on Thursday using fogo too, a report said.

Bombeiros conducted burning operations at the Giant Forest at almost a micro-scale and moving from tree to tree, Rebecca Paterson, a spokeswoman for Sequóia National Park stated.

Organic debris and ground cover called duff near the trees was ignited and allowed the flames to move away from the trees to form an area buffer.

Utilizing firing operations to burn flammable vegetação and other material before the wildfire reaches the Giant Forest is one of many ways bombeiros can use their adversaries to stop, slow down, or redirect the spread of fires.

This strategy comes with significant dangers if conditions alter. However, it is frequently employed to safeguard communities, homes, or other valuable recursos currently threatened by fires, including the massive grove of around 2,000 sequoias, which provides for one called the Árvore General Sherman, the world’s largest in volume.

Prescribed burns performed under ideal weather conditions can assist in replicating the less intense fires of the past. They also eliminate excess fuels when they aren’t at risk of becoming too large. If fogo eventually ravages the region, it’s likely to be less intense and with less destruction.

The same principle applies in a wildfire. Fogo chiefs attempt to profit from shifting conditions or changing ventos to burn a region before the fogo reaches it, thereby denying it the fuel it requires to sustain its crescimento.

General Sherman and other giant conifers were covered in aluminum blankets to them from the scorching heat.

Esta parque is the only one to be the first in the West to utilize prescribed fogo more than 50 years ago. It also frequently burns its groves to get rid of the fuels.