After a wildfire is contained and the threat from flames and smoke dies away, the public may think firefighters’ work is done. Actually, an important part of every wildfire is the work fire crews do to repair disturbances to the land caused by firefighting efforts. Fire managers use the term “suppression repair” to describe this work that helps the land start to heal.
Before leaving a wildfire, crews may spread brush and rocks onto bare ground that was created during firefighting efforts, whether by dozers or hand crews. Chipping equipment is often brought in to help chip this woody material so it can be spread easily. This reduces the risk of it becoming fuel for a future wildfire, and allows it to more quickly biodegrade while protecting soil until new vegetation can grow. Where fire lines were built on slopes, channels called water bars may be constructed to divert water so soil doesn’t erode. This prevents gullies from forming. Culverts are sometimes blocked by debris from fires, and these may also be cleared.
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Above: After a wildfire, trees that fell
onto roadways must be cleared,
like this tree that came down during
the Eagle Creek Fire. |
To protect public safety, rocks and logs that rolled off burning hillsides onto roads are removed, and fire-weakened trees that could topple onto roads or popular trails may be cut down. Crews will also remove any flagging, damaged hoses and trash left behind by firefighters as part of their efforts to restore the land to a more natural condition.
Suppression repair can’t hide the devastation left by roaring waves of flame that turn a forest into a charred moonscape. But it does ensure that the heroic efforts to stop those flames don’t themselves injure the land.