Prescribed Fire Question

[canny]

Is there any permits that have to be aquired to conduct a prescribed burn on your own property?

I didn't think there was, and I couldn't find anything that said so. If anyone has any different information I would appreciate it.

[1st in-last out]

As long as it is on your property and you have a method to keep it under control it is considered a controlled burn. No permit needed as long as it's not in a city limits.

[flywise]

you better buy some sort of insurance. if it get's out of hand it will cost you plenty with out it.
That is if it gets off your place. A liability plan for this one burn will probably not cost too much. My father-n-law does burns from time to time in east Tx. A neighbor sued him for 40K when a fire got on there place.

[Osceola]

Be sure to let the fire department know before you start.

["El Jèfe"]

FYI its a good idea to call the County Sheriffs Dept, prior to the burn or you may have Vol. Fire dept show up & you can be charged for them to show up.

[smokin feathers]

Call the sheriff dept and the forest service, no permit needed. You have to be a lic prescribed burn manager to burn under ban. Need something to control fire and I would have at least 100,000,000 worth of ins in case it gets out. Or I can come do it for you for a nominal fee!!(I have everything, ins,dozers, 17yrs experience and Know how. Just finished up burning 3000 acres yesterday.)

Half the time the vfd will show up anyway unless you are in the mid of nowhere or have been burning the same place everyday. I have never been charged and had to pull them out more than once and had a landowner charge them for tearing up his road for coming in the wrong gate when they didnt need to be there anyway.

[canny]

Lucky for us my uncle is in the VFD in the community where we are going to burn. He already said that he would bring one of their trucks down and park it near the burn area just in case.

I'm familiar with the protocol on who to notift prior to burning.

[smokin feathers]

If you just back and flank and put in a good firelane to start you shouldnt have many problems. If the wind is blowing hard just back it, and you can drop a few spots of fire around the midle to help it go a little faster. This week is the week to do it as it was starting to get a little warm and bud out good last week and it looks to be cooler this week. Im gonna smoke about 300 ac myself on tuesday.

[canny]

We're only going to be knocking out about 5 acres this time, it will be the first one thats been done on our property. Gotta keep it low key so that I can convince my dad and grandfather to start a regular burning regime for the remaining part of the property.

[smokin feathers]

once they see what it does they should love it!! there isnt a better or cheaper way to improve a timber stand and wildlife habitat. Being that its only 5 acres I would back it all the way across it.

Good luck.

[canny]

Thanks, The plan is to start the backfire on the downwind side and allow it to back into the stand. After we've obtained a sufficient black line we will then light strips with the width depending on the conditions and the fuels and allow the fire to burn with the wind into the previously burned areas. This pattern will be continued all the way across the property.

Thats the game plan for now, I'm up for further opinions

[smokin feathers]

you have to be careful lighting with the wind under timber depending on the fuel load. If you have high ground moisture and a low fuel load you can do no wrong, but if the fuel low is med-high and the moisture is low and you can send the fire through the tops with a head fire(been there done that!! luckily had the piece cut off, was trying to hurry and get through and the fire went right through the tops of them 90ft trees and killed them dead. it was also in the 80's that day. each situation is different and you have to play it by ear and it changes on the same places every year. One year you can do no wrong and the next you better be dang careful!

Thats a good game plan, if the pieces you are burning are small its just as easy if it has some fuel to work with just to let it back through and you will get a good kill on it. You need some straw and other fine fuels to carry the fire, leaves will not burn good unless the conditions are right(low humidity and dry), if you dont have these to carry the fire then strip the heck out of it.

pm me and ill give you my number if you have any questions at any time. I burn about 14,000 acres a year with about 1/3 of them in understory and the rest being siteprep burns on clearcuts.