Controlled burn question...

[Froggy]

It's real easy to go from lighting to fighting.

I took part in many prescribed burns during my career with the Forest Service. Call the local Texas Forest Service office. They have a list of contractors they use to assist with fighting wildfires and conducting prescribed burns.

[drop dead fred]

Here's the property it's surrounded by 2500 acres of wheat on 3 sides an has a 50-60 yard wide right a way across the whole property on the other there is also a slough just inside right a way that holds quite a bit of water

[LWolken]

That place would be a piece of cake to burn. Next time we burn a couple units on our place I'll send you a PM you can come help and watch. Hopefully this spring.

[drop dead fred]

That place would be a piece of cake to burn. Next time we burn a couple units on our place I'll send you a PM you can come help and watch. Hopefully this spring.

Yeah that was my thinkin esp if you had a decent S wind it "seems" like a rather easy piece to burn.... An I'm in!

[BrokenJ]

What are you wanting to burn? Is it grass or in the woods? If grass,what kind if grass? Timing and weather conditions will dictate what the results will be.

[Dusty Britches]

I would like to burn 18 acres of hay pasture. It is square, no trees. So I was thinking I would disc the fence line 12' in and wait for moderate humidity and 5-10 mph wind from the south. The grass is dead/ dormant.

Do I really need a professional contractor?

[treestand]

Deer need cover just as much as food (and water). Since there doesn't seem to be much cover on the neighboring properties, I would make sure you keep some on your place. The landowner on our lease burned too much cover off which was good for his cows but it sent a good portion of the deer herd elsewhere.

[deer farmer]

I have done two small areas and it always was nerve racking. Two small to get a contractor to do it, but to big for me to do it on my own. So I contacted two of the local volunteer fire depts. and they were not very interested and the recommendations I got from them was to call 911 if it got out of hand. So first time I got 5 High school seniors because they wanted to light it up. I did all the prep work and i did it early morning with little to no wind. Worked out great . But the second time i did it the wind came up and started swirling and handled it but not so easy the second time. So be prepared if u go ahead with it.

[tex4k]

Get help, timing affects whether you'll benefit more forbs (deer food) or grasses (cattle feed)

[Anvilheadtexas]

I have done several burns on my place in Polk County. Yes it helps the deer and its even beneficial to other creatures (but here on the green screen no one seems to care about anything but deer). There is a lot of advice floating around out there on how to do it. I even had some grad students come down from SFA to give me some good guidance. Thing is, no one wants to be there when the drip torches get lit. Do not count on contractors doing ir for you, they are too busy with larger acres when the conditions are right (cant blame them). We do ours in Jan to March and always start later in the day. I call the Sheriff Dept and advise them we are burning. I also contact neighbors. I do have a written burn plan when we burn.

Some of the blocks we burn have been burned several times and these are actually low key events to re-burn (good breaks and less fuel). I have found on winter days with minimal wind, the humidity level goes through the roof towards dusk and the fire creeps very slowly and burns very cool. I have had days where it just stops. There is a fine line between starting too early and too late.

My advice... be triple prepared and it will go good. Read and consult with people. There is a good article in QDMA magazine that came yesterday about burn mishaps and lessons. Good read.

Have a good whiskey ready for after the burn... you will need it. It is nerve racking.

Earliest post on here said something about the term "controlled burn"... eliminate that from your vocab. There is no controlled fire as earlier post suggested. Its "prescribed fire" and once you let the geni out of the bottle, it does what it wants. You stop it with breaks and backfires.

PM me if you want more information or consider coming up to Polk County this winter and watch/help. I started prepping fire breaks last Sunday.











All these blocks have been burned prior and therefore are not as daunting as your standard Polk County thicket.



Oh, its critical to designate one person to ensure everyone remains hydrated. Pick the person that is least likely to be of any good should the fire jump a break.