4 ms·

> why not just build (and maintain) the firebreaks, wait for a wildfire to happen inside the burn zone, and then just refuse to put it out? Per my understandin

• toast0 3y ago
  Under the prepare the firebreaks ahead of time doctrine, you'd still be on the hook for mustering resources in response to an unscheduled fire as is the case today, but if the firebreaks are already in place and appropriate for the conditions at the time, the response would be watch and wait, and if all goes well, let it burn out without much additional effort. If conditions aren't appropriate, then you're back to status quo of containing a wildfire; but maybe the firebreaks help somewhat? (Would need the opinion of someone knowledgable in wildfire fighting rather than random internet peeps to know if this approaches a reasonable idea at all though; I'd wonder if it's reasonable to build and maintain general purpose firebreaks in large forests at all; and what effect that would have on the habitability of the forest for its flora and fauna)
• derefr 3y ago
  The interesting thing about controlled burns is that by doing them, you end up with fewer possible burn sites. So such an approach would get easier over time.