Conservationist Rich Fairbanks stares at a pile of photographs documenting the outcome of a 2005 controlled burn conducted in Los Padres National Forest in southern California. He points with excitement to a line even a layman can see…the very border where the burn would later stop the raging Day Fire in its tracks.

Plants begin to respond within weeks of the fire's passage. More photos.

Fire Background Information

What is a controlled burn? During a controlled burn, a team of fire scientists and firefighters ignite a pre-designated area of forest and monitor it burn. This allows the fire to play a natural role in appropriate places and helps restore open areas which reducing costs. Location: Alamo Mountain, Los Padres National Forest, Goleta, CA. When: December, 2005 Acreage: 300 acres Landscape: Jeffery Pine forest with brush and various grass species. Encounter: Day Fire of 2006

Listen to Our Podcasts

- Wildland Fire: Episode 1 Rich Fairbanks, a TWS fire program associate for the California-Nevada region, fields an interview on the subject of the positive impact controlled burns make on restoring forests, increasing firefighter safety, and boosting local economies.

Related Materials

- More Photos of Alamo Mountain

Sometimes rock outcrops will break the momentum of a fire, creating refugia for the trees. More photos.

And that's just part of the story.

While some people may see controlled burn side effects like smoke as a nuisance, Fairbanks knows that the burns are actually good for the health of communities and the ecosystems that surround them.

"Controlled burns have many benefits," says Fairbanks, a forest and fire specialist for The Wilderness Society (TWS). "They create a more fire-resilient forest and they make fighting future fires safer, easier and cheaper, while restoring basic ecosystem functions."

In December 2005, the forest service prescribed a burn of more than 300 acres on Alamo Mountain in Los Padres. Firefighter crews monitored the burn, which eventually extinguished itself, turning the fuel laden ground (understory) into a dark layer of ash.

Frequent controlled burns prevent dense brush from accruing on the forest floor, thus preventing significant fuel buildup for a larger wildfire like the Day Fire. The Day Fire burned through the month of September in 2006, overtaking 162,702 acres and requiring the U.S. Forest Service to spend more than $70 million to fight it.

At its largest expanse, 4,600 active firefighters were battling the flames simultaneously. As the fire moved, it reached Alamo Mountain, where the December 2005 controlled burn had been conducted.

The results from this encounter were exactly what TWS expected: instead of the Day Fire swallowing this section, its behavior changed dramatically. The hot wildfire stopped in its tracks before devouring the majestic Jeffery Pines living there. It became a slow moving, low intensity fire due to the lack of available fuel.

Controlled burns are not a new phenomenon. Beginning centuries ago, American settlers found Native Americans setting fire to stands of pine trees. Eventually, the settlers began doing so to improve hunting access in forests and to clear brush and timber for farming. 

Today, controlled burns serve the same purpose and many others. During such a burn, fire fighting teams ignite a pre-designated part of the forest. This area is allowed to burn while being constantly monitored by the same teams. Prior to the burn, scientists determine the optimal conditions for a controlled burn to take place.

As it burns, the fire feeds off the energy provided by surface fuels like pine cones, twigs, and pine needles. The fire also engulfs the lower tree branches -- creating more height between the lowest branches and the ground. Sick and small trees usually succumb to the flames, leaving a thriving forest of healthier and larger trees. These burns maintain ecosystems and can help save valuable land from being completely destroyed in a larger fire

Fire is usually viewed as a destructive force, but in these settings it creates a new scene of beauty. After the low intensity burn dies down, a new chapter in the forest's cycle begins. The death of small trees and shrubs allows more water to reach the roots of the older pines. Nutrients locked up in the decaying matter scattered across the ground are released and initiate a growth of thriving bacteria. 

The bacteria mobilize nutrient development. And ash deposited from the fire becomes the fertilizer for a new crop of succulent shrubs and plants, which appear to sprout from the seemingly desolate forest floor. This new growth provides a banquet for deer and other wildlife.

Controlled burns are not only beneficial to the forests but also the people who live in those areas and the firefighters who risk their lives battling major wildland fires. By eliminating the large amounts of surface fuel, these burns make wildland fires more controllable and less threatening to homes. Firefighters have an easier time battling a smaller fire which enables them to protect houses that border the forests.

When wildland fires become uncontrollable and begin to burn houses, they are very costly. Controlled burns can alleviate the excessive spending by cutting overall fire fighting costs. The fires on previously burned areas aren't as hot, large, and destructive. This saves taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of fire season … money that could be spent on the services such as providing recreational opportunities for humans and habitat for wildlife.

But it is not the dollars and cents that drive Fairbanks' work on fire - it's the beauty of the reborn forest, as seen in Los Padres National Forest since the prescribed burn of 2005.

That image brings a smile to shutterbug Fairbanks' face. He knows shots of that revitalized forest will make for great photographs, too.

"When people think of fire, they tend to think of the roaring flames they see on the 11 o' clock news. Natural fires burn under a wide variety of intensities. Some fires are mellow, slow moving affairs, that just kind of nibble at the needles on the ground. It is these kind of fires that can often do a lot of good in our forests. The Native Americans figured this out several thousand years ago. It took a while, but we are rediscovering the benefits of low intensity fire."

- Emilie Carroll