Note: scroll down to see an update to this article.

Wildfire Today first wrote about the Blacklining Machine in January, 2008 when it was being tested by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in South Dakota. A month later they approved it to be used on prescribed fires.

The device, pulled behind a tractor over a grassy prairie, uses propane burners under a metal structure to burn a five-foot wide black line, an area of burned vegetation, on the edge of a planned prescribed fire. Water spray nozzles, 16 of them, wet down the edges as the unit moves forward at about one mile an hour. In association with an adjacent mowed line, this can serve as a barrier to the prescribed fire spreading beyond the planned perimeter.

On Thursday the USF&WS demonstrated it at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in northern Nebraska. The Norfolk Daily News covered the event, but they got a little confused about the number and placement of the water nozzles and propane burners.

I’ve never seen one in action, but it may put in black line more quickly, with fewer people and with less risk of escape than conventional methods. It no doubt works best on an area with gentle terrain, grass fuels, and few rocks. But it’s probably fun to play with.

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UPDATE March 27, 2011

It occurs to me from reading the comments that some people are not familiar with the concept of blacklining a prescribed fire prior to the main ignition of the project. Depending on the tactics and the wind direction, the process of igniting along the perimeter can be a rather slow and tedious process until you get 5 to 30 feet of burned area, or black, adjacent to the perimeter. If the project is small and you have plenty of time and resources this may not be an issue. But if your project is large and you would like to minimize the number of operational periods devoted to igniting it, blacklining days or weeks before the burn can save you a lot of time. And you can have a broader prescription for blacklining than the main burn, making it possible to black line on days that would not be suitable for the larger project.

The Dillon Prescribed Fire shown above, was 3,132 acres. By blacklining the perimeter in advance, we were able to ignite the entire project in one day, while reducing the chances of an escape.

Blacklining can be especially useful prior to aerial ignition, as was the case on the Dillon project above. In some areas access on the Dillon was very difficult due to badlands. In those areas, instead of using engines and a water tender for support during blacklining, we used ATV’s with water tanks.

Thanks Judy