The Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Big Thompson Watershed Coalition spent several days this week training and teaching local agencies and elected officials the importance of a machine the department acquired earlier this year aimed at wildfire prevention.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the department brought out it’s Air Curtain Burner unit, an AirBurners BurnBoss machine, to show how it could be used to improve wildfire mitigation and stop the spread of potential fires.
“Anytime we are trying to dispose of waste, the biggest concern is what are the repercussions if it goes haywire,” said Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach. “This device introduces the safety component and the efficiency of being able to do a massive quantity in short order.”
The 10,000-pound green machine can be hitched to a truck and driven on-site to take care of slash, or debris left after logging, pruning, thinning or brush cutting; this can include logs, chips, bark, branches, stumps and broken understory tree and brush.
The unit, once set up at whatever location it is brought to, drops a rectangular box to the ground where slash can be thrown in to safely burn, reducing it to wood ash and biochar, according to a handout from AirBurners.
Sendelbach said the $77,000 unit was secured through a grant awarded to the Big Thompson Watershed Coalition and is now under the possession of the LFRA. He added the department will oversee the deployment of the unit to qualified agencies throughout the Big Thompson and Poudre watersheds.
Crews undergo a training with the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Air Curtain Burner at the Loveland Recycling Center Dec. 6, 2023. The burn held on Dec. 6 was part of a train-the-trainer program, meant to provide detailed instructions on how to safely use the machine to burn slash and aid in wildfire mitigation. (Photo courtesy of the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Big Thompson Watershed Coalition)
Crews undergo a training with the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Ar Curtain Burner at the Loveland Recycling Center on Wednesday. The burn held on Wednesday was part of a train-the-trainer program, meant to provide detailed instructions on how to safely use the machine to burn slash and aid in wildfire mitigation. (Photo courtesy of the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Big Thompson Watershed Coalition)
While the department was able to hold train-the-trainer programs on Tuesday and Wednesday, meant to teach members of different Larimer County agencies in a more detailed format how to use the machine, it was unable to hold an official burn on Thursday for its planned live demonstration due to high winds in the area.
However, the department was still able to share the importance of the machine with those gathered when it comes to wildfire prevention. For those involved at the Thursday event, the education, even without a live demonstration, was a great way to strengthen collaborations between departments in the area.
Sheriff John Feyen said preventin like this is like eating vegetables or going for a run so you can take care of something before it becomes a problem. He went on to describe the unit as another tool in the toolbox for wildfire mitigation.
“Do the prevention we can before the fire gets going,” he said.
Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally, who also happens to be a member of the Colorado Forest Health council, said handling slash in the county is a big deal and opportunities like this help to connect agencies to resources.
“There is an urgency to deal with this need now,” she said. “This is something that could be catastrophic for Colorado again. It’s not if but when we have the next natural disaster, so we need to do the work immediately with the workforce and tools all coming together in partnership.”
“The only way we can be successful as a response component is if we have something like this underway,” Sendelbach said. “The reality is wildfire response is basically a community based effort. We haveto have everyone working together to give the firefighters a chance. And from the preventative side, reducing that fuel is a critical component.”