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Firebreak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Part of a series on Wildland Firefighting |
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A firebreak or fireroad is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that is expected to slow or stop the progress of a wildfire. A firebreak may be a road – from a jeep trail to a freeway – or a path of removed vegetation along a ridge that is intended for no other purpose.
Forested areas are often riddled with networks of firebreaks. For firebreaks to be effective they have to be backed up with other firefighting efforts. Even then it is sometimes not enough. During the worst of the fire season in southern California, Santa Ana winds will blow carpets of burning embers across eight-lane freeways without a pause. During the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park, smoking embers managed to cross the Lewis Canyon, a natural canyon up to a mile wide and 600 feet (180 m) deep.
The world's most expensive firebreak was created when the whole street of Van Ness was dynamited to stop the spread of fire resulting from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
- See also: Firewall (construction)