Fight wildfires with fire

Image: US Fish and Wildlife

Visitors to Cleveland National Forest might find Forest Service employees purposefully setting fires within park boundaries. The Forest Service even advertises these fires as controlled burn-alerts on their website. One justification is that these controlled burns prevent wildfire. This is a literal example of fighting fire with fire, but how does it work?

In3-ESS3-1, students are asked to make a claim about the merit of a design solution to reduce the impact of a weather-related hazard. How can fire be used to mitigate wildfire? What steps could be taken to reduce the chance of massive wildfires?

Resources:

Forest Service: Controlled Burns