Plains/Paradise Rural Fire Department and Plains City Fire Department members set an intentional fire off Upper Lynch Creek Road near the Plains Cemetery on Saturday. Using drip torches, firefighters burned off high grass and brush away from the edges of the cemetery and Upper Lynch Creek Road.

About ten members of the volunteer department set lines of fire at intervals about 15 to 20 feet apart, allowing the fire to burn upwards toward an earlier burned section. This method allows the fire to burn a horizontal section before running into an area previously scorched, depriving the fire of fuel and preventing it from spreading.

Plains City Fire department member Calvin Minemyer said, “The fire didn’t carry quite as well as we wanted but overall it went well.”

This is a common method for prescribed fire and is utilized by the Forest Service during their fire management activities. Controlled burns are a frequent technique for land management efforts which reduce the amount of fuel available to an unintentional fire or serve to clear undergrowth.