why we can’t ‘just’ split big forests into multiple blocks so when a block burns it doesn’t spread through the whole forest.

Question

Well the title is the question.
With ‘split’ I mean create some space between blocks where fire has nothing to travel to the next block to spread.

I imagine that actions like dropping water with helicopters would also be unnecessary since we could ‘give up’ a burning block and then the fire would be over.

Or am I too naive about it?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

My brother was a “hotshot” who fought forest fires. I asked him how is it that green trees burn so easily? He said the heat from a forest fire is so intense, it dries out the everything as it approaches. He said the fire super-heats the sap inside the trees and the trees just explode all around you. He also said the noise from a fire is so loud that it’s like standing next to an old train tracks when a noisy train passes.

His unit was ‘burned over’ twice. They had to quickly dig holes and place a kind of tin foil over themselves and let the fire pass over them. He ended up hurting his back in a helicopter accident and has had 12 surgeries (he now has full use of his limbs).