With the outside ring of fuel consumed, these students ignite the inner circle around the fragile structure.

The students got inside the paper house. However, due to the heavy load of uncomfortable smoke, they emerged and simply hopped across the backing fire, in the foreground, as it consumed another 10 feet of fuel. What they graphically proved was this: When dealing with backing fire (flames burning into the wind, where the heat is directed down into the ground), the downward and away direction of the heat allows safe passage through flames inside this sort of arranged and prepared ground.

Remember, with this method, head fires are not allowed to happen. There is no head of heat free-running, because the ignition patterns are set only inches in front of circular control lines. They simply cannot ever get strong and escape. Metered application is designed to control heat release.

Note that the straw and hay are littered at least a foot deep. This is an exceptionally heavy load of light, fast-generating fuel.

There was a 12 mph wind during these burns. Head fires developed 8' long flame lengths when allowed to run free. Left alone, these developed the power and speed to destroy the fragile home on our first lay-out of a house on an acre of light fuel.

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