Prescribed Fire

Under the right conditions, prescribed fire is one of the most cost‑effective and ecologically beneficial tools available for managing hazardous fuels. When planned and implemented by qualified professionals, it reduces the buildup of vegetation that can drive extreme wildfire behavior, restores natural fire cycles, and improves the resilience of landscapes and communities.

Prescribed fire can be tailored to a wide range of objectives. A broadcast burn can open up dense understory vegetation, stimulate new growth for wildlife habitat, and maintain healthy rangelands and forests. In other situations, a strategically placed blackline—a strip of intentionally burned fuel along a road, fenceline, or property boundary—creates a defensive buffer that can significantly reduce risk ahead of a severe fire season.

Whether your goal is ecological restoration, improved habitat, safer defensible space, or proactive risk reduction, our team provides the planning, expertise, and operational support needed to carry out safe, effective prescribed fires. From site assessment and burn plan development to ignition operations and post‑burn monitoring, we help landowners and agencies use fire responsibly to protect both natural resources and the communities that depend on them.

Prescribed Fire Services

Broadcast Prescribed Fire

Large‑scale understory burning is one of the most efficient ways to reduce continuous fuels across broad areas and restore ecological function. We conduct broadcast prescribed fires under controlled conditions to lower fuel loads, improve landscape resilience, and meet ecological objectives.

Defensible Space Prescribed Fire

Mechanical treatments near structures can be disruptive, costly, and require frequent repetition to remain effective. We apply low‑intensity prescribed fire around homes and infrastructure to reduce fine fuels, maintain defensible space, and preserve protective buffers with minimal disturbance.

Upwind Defensive Prescribed Fire

Properties facing prevailing upwind fire exposure benefit from pre‑season fuel breaks that slow or stop an approaching wildfire. We plan and implement narrow, linear defensive prescribed fires along boundaries and roads to create effective barriers, including the type of work that helped protect Borger, Texas during the 2024 Windy Deuce Fire—where several of our firefighters served in key roles.

Pile Burning

Cut vegetation left in piles remains a concentrated fuel hazard until it is properly disposed of. We ignite and monitor piles under prescribed conditions to safely eliminate residual fuels and reduce long‑term wildfire risk.

Prescribed Fire Staffing Augmentation

Many agencies, ranches, and burn associations lack enough qualified personnel to implement prescribed fire at the scale needed. We provide experienced crews and engines to supplement existing operations and increase capacity for safe, effective burning.

Contingency Resource Augmentation

Contingency resources for prescribed fire are often drawn from local fire departments whose primary duty is jurisdictional coverage, but if those units are dispatched to an emerging wildfire, the prescribed fire can quickly fall out of prescription and must be shut down. We serve as dedicated contingency engines and crews that are not obligated to any jurisdiction, remaining available solely to support your prescribed fire and respond if conditions change. Our presence ensures continuity, operational safety, and the ability to maintain prescription even when local resources are pulled away.

Prescribed Fire Plan Writing

High‑quality burn plans are essential for safe implementation, regulatory compliance, and clear operational guidance, but many organizations lack the time or expertise to prepare them. We develop comprehensive, NWCG-compliant, prescribed fire plans that clearly define objectives, conditions, tactics, contingencies, and required resources.

Smoke Management Planning and Permitting Support

Smoke impacts can limit prescribed‑fire opportunities and create public‑health concerns if not carefully managed. We develop smoke‑management strategies and provide permitting support to minimize impacts, meet regulatory requirements, and expand safe burning windows.

Burn Severity Mapping

Rapid insight into how severely a prescribed fire burned helps managers evaluate whether objectives were met and guides immediate post‑fire decisions. We provide timely burn‑severity estimates shortly after the fire, giving you clear, actionable information on fire effects across the unit.