Strategically-planted strips of fire-resistant vegetation show promise for mitigating the spread of fire, especially near structures in the built environment.
Known as “green firebreaks,” this use of fire-resistant vegetation to protect homes from wildfires offers a stark contrast to the standard fire-mitigation practice of employing mechanical forest treatments to create fuel breaks, which focuses on removal of “all organic material.”
Traditional fuel breaks present fundamental, unresolved dilemmas. At best, removal of all organic material is a temporary solution. Seeds sprout. Plants grow. Organic material returns. To be effective, traditional fuel breaks require costly regular maintenance in perpetuity.
