To kick off our 2022 burn season, we conducted a prescribed burn in our eastern pilot Andropogon experimental plot on Friday, May 6. We burned the western plot in spring 2021.
After staging equipment and checking the weather with our new bluetooth-enabled Kestrel, we ignited a test fire in the NW corner of the plot. The fire looked great and out mowed break was doing its job so we proceeded with the fire. Stuart kept watch over the northern line while Alex and Trygg tended to the western edge. We allowed the fire to back downhill against the wind. After putting in a few strips to quickly widen the black, we ignited along the eastern and southern lines. The headfire quickly ran uphill. Apart from areas with discontinuous fuels along the northern edge, the burn was pretty thorough. Stuart noted that the wind was consistently southeast except for a southern push when we ignited the headfire. We agreed that lighting the headfire sooner would have been possible given conditions and the fire behavior we observed. All-in-all, a successful first burn of 2022 for the Echinacea Project. We are eager to learn how Andropogon gerardii responds to fire.
Staging equipment for the burn (Stuart’s photo) Stuart’s view of strip fire from the NE corner (Stuart’s photo) Jared and Trygg keeping an eye on the western break (Alex C.’s photo) Alex C. tending to the southern break as the headfire runs uphill.
Temperature: 65 F
Relative Humidity: 37 %
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind Direction: SE
Ignition time: 12:03 PM
End time: 12:24 PM
Burn Crew: Jared, Stuart, Alex C., Trygg
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