Editing Controlled burn (section)

==== Slash pile burning ====
There are several different methods used to burn piles of [[Slash (logging)|slash]] from forestry operations. Broadcast burning is the burning of scattered slash over a wide area. Pile burning is gathering up the slash into piles before burning. These burning piles may be referred to as [[bonfire]]s. High temperatures can harm the [[soil]], damaging it [[Hydrophobic soil|physically]], [[chemical change|chemically]] or [[sterilization (microbiology)|sterilizing]] it. Broadcast burns tend to have lower temperatures and will not harm the soil as much as pile burning,<ref name="pile burning">{{cite journal |last=Julie E. Korb |author2=Nancy C. Johnson |author3=W. W. Covington |date=March 2004 |title=Slash Pile Burning Effects on Soil Biotic and Chemical Properties and Plant Establishment: Recommendations for Amelioration |url=http://library.eri.nau.edu/gsdl/collect/erilibra/index/assoc/HASHe36c.dir/doc.pdf |journal=Restoration Ecology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=52–62 |doi=10.1111/j.1061-2971.2004.00304.x |bibcode=2004ResEc..12...52K |s2cid=85744169 |access-date=2011-06-10 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040021/http://library.eri.nau.edu/gsdl/collect/erilibra/index/assoc/HASHe36c.dir/doc.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> though steps can be taken to treat the soil after a burn. In lop and scatter burning, slash is left to compact over time, or is compacted with machinery. This produces a lower intensity fire, as long as the slash is not packed too tightly.<ref name="pile burning" />

The risk of fatal fires that stem from burning slash can also be reduced by proactively reducing ground fuels before they can create a fuel ladder and begin an active [[crown fire]]. Predictions show thinned forests lead to a reduction in fire intensity and flame lengths of forest fires compared to untouched or fire-proofed areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mirra|first1=Inês M.|last2=Oliveira|first2=Tiago M.|last3=Barros|first3=Ana M.G.|last4=Fernandes|first4=Paulo M.|title=Fuel dynamics following fire hazard reduction treatments in blue gum ( Eucalyptus globulus ) plantations in Portugal|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|language=en|volume=398|pages=185–195|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2017.05.016|year=2017|bibcode=2017ForEM.398..185M }}</ref>