There’s always something happening on the farm, and I suspect it’s the nature of these family-run farms that those that manage it need to be willing to take on a wide variety of tasks.
On Sunday it was burning-off, and for a while, I was on fire-fighting duty. Not to stop the fire, but to make sure it didn’t jump the fire breaks.
The tool for lighting up the fire is the amusingly-branded Fire Bug fire control torch.
As the fire was lit up, we moved along the fire break with a truck with a water pump (an upgrade from what we used last time I helped on a burn-off), putting out spot fires if they spread into the break. There was a slight breeze, which fanned the flames.
In between squirting water as appropriate, I managed to slightly drench myself, but my jeans soon dried.
Jack had come along for the ride, and had no problems in keeping out of the way of the flames.
Gradually the target area went from dry grass and shrub to black, and the smoke drifted away.
Once we’d finished, birds moved in to see what good might have been made available by the disruption. (Yum — BBQ!)
3 replies on “A little Sunday afternoon fire-fighting (and lighting) on the farm”
Such a fascinating glimpse into quite a serious task. Thanks for sharing the photos and story behind it all.
I’ve just been up to the Kimberley (Broome, WA) In those areas they appear to start fires by helicopter and just let them burn. They seem to burn themselves out OK. The procedure is a bit contentious though as lots of people think that it’s changing the landscape too much.
The traditional land holders used fire to change the landscape for thousands of years. Some trees adapted so they had to be burnt to spread their seed.
Monitoring controlled burns is important as the people that lit it originally can be charged if it causes damage when it gets out of control, as happened recently when a burnt tree fell over and hit a car.