More Good Fire

Advancing Forest Health & Wildfire Resilience

Within the footprint of the Caldor Fire, strategic pile burning plays a critical role in long-term forest recovery and wildfire resilience. Following large wildfire events, heavy accumulations of downed timber, hazard trees, and mechanical thinning slash often remain. Left untreated, these concentrations can contribute to reburn risk, increased fire intensity, and long-term fuel loading concerns.

Through the Healthy Forest Alliance Foundation and our Good Fire Training Network, we have supported the burning of large tractor piles as part of post-fire restoration and fuels management efforts. These piles—constructed during mechanical treatment and hazard tree removal operations—must be carefully ignited and monitored under appropriate weather conditions to ensure complete consumption while protecting surrounding resources.

Pile burning in a fire scar requires precision. Crews evaluate fuel moisture, wind patterns, atmospheric stability, and soil conditions before ignition. Establishing secure control lines, verifying adequate spacing between piles, and confirming contingency resources are in place are essential steps prior to lighting operations. Once ignited, piles are monitored for heat duration, residual smoke impacts, and potential holdover concerns.

This work reduces concentrated fuel loads, promotes safer future prescribed fire opportunities, and supports reforestation and habitat recovery objectives. By systematically removing excess woody material, we help restore more natural fuel continuity and reduce the likelihood of extreme fire behavior in future wildfire events.

Burning large tractor piles within the Caldor Fire scar is not simply debris disposal—it is a targeted fuels reduction strategy that contributes to forest health, community protection, and long-term landscape resilience. Thoughtfully applied fire remains one of the most effective tools we have to restore balance in fire-adapted ecosystems.