Fire breaks in the NJ Pine Barrens

One of the the fire mitigation projects under way in the Pine Barrens in NJ is the construction of fire breaks in Stafford and Barnegat, towns within the Pine Barrens. I wrote last February, about the planned construction of a fire break along Pancoast Rd. in Barnagat and a similar project on Hay Road in Stafford.

In my wanderings recently on the internet, I came across an article from Courier Post Online, that the construction of fire breaks is currently under way in both Stafford and Barnegat. The article says in part:

Long-planned fire break projects are under way in Stafford and Barnegat. Over the last four years the state Forest Fire Service methodically burned more underbrush during controlled conditions, setting up blocks of less-flammable forest to help defend against future wildfires.

"We've been doing some work on Hay Road (near the Stafford Business Park) and Pancoast Road" in Barnegat, said Bill Edwards, a district fire warden.

Work by contractors involves thinning trees alongside the roads to create a defensible zone that firefighters can use to head off an advancing blaze.

Contractors get valuable oak and pine out of the projects, and the 2007 fire actually delayed the Hay Road contract by burning up a lot of good wood, Edwards said.

"That was a project that was in the works before the fire," he said.

Both the unpaved, sand Hay and Pancoast roads are wagon trails through the Pine Barrens that make logical lines of defense, for wildfires cannot be stopped by brute force with hoses, only with strategy and maneuver that aims to deprive fires of fuel before they arrive.

I'm not certain how long the link to the Courier Post Online will be active, and there is a photo montage of a fire burning in the Pine Barrens, I understand from this post on the wildlandfire hot list (where I first saw this article), that the fire shown in the slide show is not the 2007 Warren Grove Fire (the fire referred to in the article), but is the 2008 Atison Fire that also burned in the Pine Barrens. The photo montage includes photos of a SEAT working the fire and a helo doing bucket work.

The NJ Forest Fire Service just put out a publication called Best Management Practices for Creating and Maintaining Wildfire Fuelbreaks in New Jersey's Wildland Urban Interface, it is a very nice, short, easy read to read publication with a nice glossary and photos. Construction of a fuel break is something that most homeowners can do, perhaps with some help of an arborist to remove trees. The publications provides some how to tips for constructing fuel breaks. While written by the NJ Forest Fire Service for New Jersey residents, I think that it some of the information crosses state boundaries. So, I'd recommend reading it. You may click on download the publication in pdf format.