Skip to Main Content
-
Assessing mitigation of wildfire severity by fuel treatments - An example from the coastal plain of Mississippi
Author(s): Erik J. Martinson; Philip N. Omi
Date: 2006
Source: In: Andrews, Patricia L.; Butler, Bret W., comps. 2006. Fuels Management-How to Measure Success: Conference Proceedings. 28-30 March 2006; Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 429-439
Publication Series: Proceedings (P)
Station: Rocky Mountain Research Station
PDF: View PDF (1 MB)Note: This article is part of a larger document. View the larger documentDescription
Fuel treatments such as prescribed fire are a controversial tenet of wildfire management. Despite a well-established theoretical basis for their use, scant empirical evidence currently exists on fuel treatment effectiveness for mitigating the behavior and effects of extreme wildfire events. We report the results of a fire severity evaluation of an escaped prescribed fire that burned into an area previously treated with repeated prescribed fires. We observed significantly lower scorch heights, crown damage, and ground char in the treated area. We attribute the moderated fire severity in the treated area to a significantly altered fuel profile created by the repeated prescribed fires. Though our results represent just one treatment area in a single wildfire, they add to a depauperate database and bring us a step closer to defining the conditions under which fuel treatments are an effective pre-suppression strategy.Publication Notes
- You may send email to rmrspubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
- (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
- We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
- This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
Citation
Martinson, Erik J.; Omi, Philip N. 2006. Assessing mitigation of wildfire severity by fuel treatments - An example from the coastal plain of Mississippi. In: Andrews, Patricia L.; Butler, Bret W., comps. 2006. Fuels Management-How to Measure Success: Conference Proceedings. 28-30 March 2006; Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 429-439Keywords
fire, fire ecology, fuels management, fuel treatments, fire severity evaluation, prescribed fire, pre-suppression strategyRelated Search
- Evidence of fuels management and fire weather influencing fire severity in an extreme fire event
- Fuels and predicted fire behavior in the southern Appalachian Mountains and fire and fire surrogate treatments
- Effectiveness of Prescribed Fire as a Fuel Treatment in Californian Coniferous Forests
XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/25967