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Firebreak
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==Overview== [[File:PLOW AROUND TO PREVENT FOREST FIRES. SEE YOUR FIRE WARDEN - NARA - 515192.jpg | thumb|right |A poster promoting plowing to create a fire break]] [[File:Video explaining contingency lines during the North Complex Fire.ogg|thumb|A video explaining firebreaks and contingency lines during the [[North Complex Fire]].]] In the construction of a firebreak, the primary goal is to remove deadwood and undergrowth down to mineral soil. Various methods may be used to accomplish this initially and to maintain this condition. Ideally, the firebreak will be constructed and maintained according to the established practices of sustainable [[forestry]] and [[fire protection engineering]], also known as best management practices (BMP). The general goals are to maximize the effectiveness of the firebreak at slowing the spread of wildfire, and, by using firebreaks of sufficient size and density, to reduce the ultimate size of wildfires. Additional goals are to maintain the [[ecology]] of the forest and to reduce the impact of wildfires on [[air pollution]] and the global [[climate]], and to balance the [[cost-benefit analysis|costs and benefits]] of the various projects.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} These goals can be achieved through the use of appropriate operating practices, many of which can be potentially mutually beneficial to all. In many cases, it may be useful for firebreak upkeep to be maintained along with the harvesting of forestry products, such as [[lumber]] and [[biomass]] fuel, since the objectives are fundamentally related, in that the basic goals are to remove material from the forest. Furthermore, if done properly, the value of these products can significantly offset the cost of maintaining the firebreak. In addition, these commercial industries and [[small business]]es are helped by a reduction in the property damages caused by wildfires, and reduced [[return on investment|risk of investment]]. The [[biomass]] material that is not suitable for [[dimensioned lumber]] is suitable to make [[woodchips]] for the [[paper industry]] and the energy industry. Larger trees are sometimes left in place within some types of firebreaks, to shade the [[forest floor]] and reduce the rate of [[fuel]] accumulation, and to enhance the landscaping in recreational and inhabited locations.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} ===Prevalence=== Forested areas often contain vast networks of firebreaks. Some [[community|communities]] are also using firebreaks as part of their [[city planning]] [[strategy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/live/my-environment/fire-and-emergency/fire-breaks-the-prevention-of-fires.aspx|title=Prevention and Protection from Fires Β» City of Greater Geraldton|website=www.cgg.wa.gov.au|language=en|access-date=2018-05-30|archive-date=2018-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726005556/https://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/live/my-environment/fire-and-emergency/fire-breaks-the-prevention-of-fires.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> An example is the city of [[Revelstoke, British Columbia]], which includes firebreaks in their Community Wildfire Protection Plan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://revelstoke.ca/DocumentCenter/View/272/Community-Wildfire-Protection-Plan-Final|title=Community Wildfire Protection Plan|last=Girard|first=Rob|date=2018-05-30|website=City of Revelstoke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530190933/https://revelstoke.ca/DocumentCenter/View/272/Community-Wildfire-Protection-Plan-Final|archive-date=2018-05-30|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref> ===Effectiveness=== [[File:Contrasts - fire.jpg|thumb|By comparing the burnt (right) and unburnt (left) sides of a dirt road in South Africa after a major veldfire (grassland fire) the effectiveness of the road in acting as a firebreak can be seen.]] Depending on the environmental conditions, and the relative effectiveness of a given firebreak, firebreaks often have to be backed up with other firefighting efforts. Even then, it is still sometimes possible for fire to spread across a seemingly impenetrable divide. For example, during the [[Cedar Fire]] of 2003, strong [[Santa Ana winds]] had blown enough burning embers across a 10-lane section of [[Interstate 15]] to ignite the vegetation on the other side.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SIO15: Cedar Fire |url=https://geowiki.ucsd.edu/sio15/case-studies/cedar-fire03.html |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=geowiki.ucsd.edu}}</ref> During the [[Yellowstone fires of 1988|1988 fires]] in [[Yellowstone National Park]], hot embers managed to cross the [[Lewis Canyon]], a natural canyon up to a mile wide and 600 feet (180 m) deep.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} In Australia, firebreaks are less effective against eucalyptus forest fires, since intense fires in tinder-dry eucalyptus forest spread through flying embers, which can be carried by the winds to trigger new blazes several kilometres away.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite web|first=David|last=Adam|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/feb/09/fire-australia-aborigine |title=Australian wild fires prompt call to return to Aboriginal bush control|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2009-02-09|access-date=2017-02-12}}</ref> In 2019, [[goat]]s deployed to graze the nearby flammable vegetation and create a firebreak helped save the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum]] and [[Getty Museum]] from [[2019 California wildfires|California wildfires]].<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50248549 |title=California fires: Goats help save Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|publisher=BBC| date=31 October 2019| access-date =14 November 2019}}</ref>
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