You always see wildlife firefighters with drip torches. I understand they are used to control/suppress fires, but how does that work? Why does it work as a fire suppressant?
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Wood needs to heat up in order to actually burn. This is why you need tinder and kindling when starting a campfire; you use things that catch fire easily to heat up the firewood until the firewood is able to burn.
A wildfire is similar; it only spreads when it gets the nearby trees hot enough to burn. If there is a lot of natural tinder and kindling that becomes easier; heat those up a little and they start burning, which heats up the trees. This way, a fire can spread with just an ember landing in the wrong place.
By doing controlled burns, firefighters can remove a lot of the tinder and kindling without letting the trees get hot enough to burn. The wildfire can still spread, but it takes longer.
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