Using a driptorch to ignite a prescribed fire

A driptorch is a tool used in wildland firefighting, controlled burning, and other forestry applications to intentionally ignite fires. Fire in San Bernardino, California Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire in wildland often caused by lightning; other common causes are human carelessness and arson. ... Igniting a controlled burn. ... Forestry (formally known as silviculture) is the art, science, and practice of studying and managing forests and related natural resources. ...

The driptorch consists of a canister for holding fuel with a handle attached to the side, a spout with a loop to prevent fire from entering the fuel canister, a breather valve to allow air into the canister while fuel is exiting through the spout, and a wick from which flaming fuel is dropped to the ground. The wick is ignited and allows the fire to be directed as needed. The spout and wick can be secured upside down inside the canister for storage or transport. Typically the fuel used is a mixture of gasoline and diesel. Petrol (gasoline in the United States and Canada) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Diesel is a product used as a fuel in a diesel engine invented by Rudolf Diesel, and perfected by Charles F. Kettering. ...

Variations of the driptorch can be attached to off road vehicles to ignite a fire while driving slowly along the ignition line (see a photo of this in controlled burn). Another variant of the driptorch is the helitorch, which is attached to a helicopter and is used to ignite fire from the air. Igniting a controlled burn. ... A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more large horizontal rotors (propellers). ...

The need for intentional ignition of backfires is a common firefighting tactic. A backfire (also called backing fire) is a smaller fire ignited along a control line ahead of the main fire. The intent is to create a fire which moves in the opposite direction as the main fire is moving, clearing fuels along the way and allowing the main fire to burn itself out well before it reaches the control line. See: Glossary of wildland fire terms. Contents: Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Aerial firefighting: Use of aircraft to combat wildfires. ...

In forest and prairie management, the driptorch is the most common tool used to ignite prescribed burns, which are used to remove excess fuel buildup or to re-create natural cycles of fire in an ecosystem. Other tools which can also be used for this purpose include the fusee, a pyrotechnic device similar to a road flare. In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit of sorts. ... The word pyrotechnic (literally meaning fire technology) refers to any chemical explosive device, but especially fireworks. ... A WWI-era parachute flare dropped from aircraft for illumination. ...