Since there are obviously no fire hydrants in a forest, it is more difficult to fight wildfires. Tanker trucks can’t be driven in because of all the trees and lack of roads. The trees, brush, and leaves provide ideal fuel for the fire because they are so flammable. So how do firefighters go about fighting them?

Using a pulaski (a combination ax and hoe, used to dig a fireline), a special tool, hotshots and smoke jumpers clear a large path in a big circle around the fire so the blaze is contained in a ring of dirt. This area, cleared of branches and dry wood, is known as a fireline (a strip of land from which all brush and debris have been cleared to rob a wildfire of its fuel). When the fire reaches this area, it runs out of fuel and starves to death. If the fire is too large, however, planes and helicopters fly overhead, dropping special chemicals that smother the flames. This pink, fire-retardant chemical is called sky jell-o.

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Forces of Nature: ThinkQuest 2000 (Team #C003603)

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/forestfires/puttingoutthefires.shtml [ f o r e s t   f i r e s   :   p u t t i n g   o u t   t h e   f i r e s ]

Since there are obviously no fire hydrants in a forest, it is more difficult to fight wildfires. Tanker trucks can’t be driven in because of all the trees and lack of roads. The trees, brush, and leaves provide ideal fuel for the fire because they are so flammable. So how do firefighters go about fighting them?

Using a pulaski (a combination ax and hoe, used to dig a fireline), a special tool, hotshots and smoke jumpers clear a large path in a big circle around the fire so the blaze is contained in a ring of dirt. This area, cleared of branches and dry wood, is known as a fireline (a strip of land from which all brush and debris have been cleared to rob a wildfire of its fuel). When the fire reaches this area, it runs out of fuel and starves to death. If the fire is too large, however, planes and helicopters fly overhead, dropping special chemicals that smother the flames. This pink, fire-retardant chemical is called sky jell-o.

[ back to graphics version ]

Forces of Nature: ThinkQuest 2000 (Team #C003603)

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/forestfires/puttingoutthefires.shtml