Firebreak Preparations-Road Culverts

[Dwayne Rice]

Roads are often used as firebreaks when they border pastures and rightfully so, the 60 feet of bare dirt or pavement makes an excellent firebreak and the borrow ditches need occasional burning as well. However, an often overlooked and potential firehazard are the culverts or tubes that convey water from one side of the road to the other. These culverts can be full of debris and if the wind is right act as a blow torch sending burning embers and sparks across the road, firebreak breached! I was introduced to a relatively easy, cheap, and fast way of eliminating this problem on a recent burn. The producer used a rake to remove the fuel next to the culvert on the burn side and then placed two short pieces of corrigated tin across the opening holding these in place by a steel post lightly tamped into the ground, problem solved. We lit head fires and back fires along the perimeter next to these culverts without concern about sparks lighting the debris in the culvert with no way of putting out the fire until it burned through to the other side. During the mop-up the corrigated tin was removed. Hope this makes your next burn safer, faster, and easier!!