Constructing
firelines for the largest fire in
Oregon's history was made easier
when more than a dozen "SLASHBUSTER"®
brush cutters from all over the
Northwest joined in the task.
| All
first-hand observers agree:
what had before required a 20-person
crew, chipper and a feller-buncher,
was accomplished by one man and one
"SLASHBUSTER"® with
an equal or greater production rate.
|
Existing
roads were used as a fireline
where applicable, with
a vegetation treatment applied
to one side of the road. In
some areas this was accomplished
by the conventional method of
a 20-person team feeding small
vegetation into a chipper, and
a feller-buncher moving large
diameter timber to the other
side of the road.
In other areas
the same result was accomplished
with "SLASHBUSTER"® treatment, which shredded vegetation
as it stood, creating a mulch
that has low flame length characteristics.
Larger trees were cut off at
the base with the "SLASHBUSTER"® , then picked up with its material
handler and placed on the
opposite side of the road. |
| |
Equipment like this is available to fire chiefs all across the US to help reduce costs and risk of injury. |
| Cross-country fireline
construction typically
involves a dozer scraping away
all organic matter down to mineral
soil. The drawback to this treatment
is its rehabilitation cost, which
runs approximately $1400 per acre.
By using Slashbuster treatment
applied on both sides of the dozer
line, rehabilitation costs and
ecological impact were considerably
reduced, as well as the area of
exposed mineral soil. This treatment
seems to be the future of minimum
impact suppression tactics. See
how "SLASHBUSTER" treatments
helped in fighting the 2002 Squire
Peak fire. |
 |
 |
Existing
roads were used as a fireline
where applicable, with
a vegetation treatment applied
to one side of the road. In
some areas this was accomplished
by the conventional method of
a 20-person team feeding small
vegetation into a chipper, and
a feller-buncher moving large
diameter timber to the other
side of the road.
In other areas
the same result was accomplished
with "SLASHBUSTER"®
treatment, which shredded vegetation
as it stood, creating a mulch
that has low flame length characteristics.
Larger trees were cut off at
the base with the "SLASHBUSTER"®
, then picked up with its material
handler and placed on the
opposite side of the road.
|
| Roadside
vegetation management at
the Biscuit fire was particularly
important considering that up to
that point 7 of the 14 firefighter
deaths in 2002 were caused by vehicle
accidents. The narrow, winding roads
in the Siskyou National Forest were
overgrown with small diameter vegetation,
creating hazardous blind curves
that the "SLASHBUSTERS"®
quickly took care of. |
Cost
differences are estimated in
GH Ranch's "Slashbusting
for Forest Fuels Reduction" brochure.
(PDF, 480K)
See how
"SLASHBUSTER"® treatments
helped in fighting the Squire
Peak fire.
|
