![]() Tight-lining is simplest, just following the edge of the fire. It’s always good to get the Dozer Boss up for a flight to see the fire from above and plan their route, but especially so before night operations. They do excellent work at night when fire behavior is less intense and other crews are off the line. When it’s safe to be on the line, dozers usually start from the rear and work up the flanks. Speaking of extreme conditions, the active head of the fire is seldom the place for dozers. This is seldom an effective use of resources when under extreme conditions fire can spot over 1,000 metres. Remember the guard is intended to stop surface fire, while you can widen it, don’t follow the thought that if six metres is good, 60 metres must be better. Areas with lighter fuels can often get away with two dozers, but a single dozer working alone is not recommended. This results in a fuel break of one to two dozer blade widths, perhaps six metres. Using three dozers, the first walks down the trees, the second windrows them away from the fire and the third cleans the line to mineral soil. If, like me, you’re less knowledgeable about heavy equipment, be sure to utilize the experience of your dozer operators. The ideal Dozer Boss has a good knowledge of both wildfire and heavy equipment. The Dozer Boss should be prepared to do a lot of walking, and most use an ATV as well. It’s their job to guide and supervise the dozers by locating the line, directing the dozers and ensuring the quality of the guard and the safety of all. ![]() The Dozer Boss may be from industry, your provincial wildfire agency, or your fire department. We like to use three dozers and a water carrier supervised by a Strike Team Leader we still call a Dozer Boss. Under ICS dozers can be a Single Resource or form a Strike Team, often under a Heavy Equipment Group Supervisor. Safety is further increased by clearing a 30 square metre helipad every few kilometres, a common dozer practice. The dozer guard is often used as an escape route and in some fuels a safety zone. Even relying on boot power, it’s much easier to lay hose and work from a dozer guard than through uncleared forest and brush, greatly increasing efficiency and safety. In addition to creating a fuel break, dozers create access that can be used to move water and manpower. In Alberta we use both, but in the North our water is often farther away than on the Canadian Shield and our deep soils are seldom conducive to handline, so we heavily utilize dozers to construct the fireline. Dryline is often built with hand tools scraping away surface fuels to mineral soil, so a surface fire will stop when it reaches the line. ![]() Wetline is commonly made with pump and hose, extinguishing the fire with water and wetting adjacent fuels. The key to wildland fire suppression is perimeter control - stopping the advance movement of the fire - which is done by building a fireline around the fire.
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