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What Firebreaker does for you Firebreaker is an innovative line of equipment for burning firebreaks: • Safely • Effectively • Efficiently • Economically |
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Burning firebreaks with Firebreaker: • Decreases the risk associated with burning firebreaks. • Speeds up the burning process. • Requires less labor. • Requires fewer backup resources. • Affords total control over the burning process, which can be aborted at any time. • Does not promote soil erosion, as does ploughing. • Allows you to make a firebreak of any width. • Does not create a seedbed for opportunistic weeds or exotic species, as does ploughing. Firebreaker is valuable for: • Preventing the spread of wildfires. • Containing controlled burns. |
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When to use Firebreaker Firebreaker is a heavy-duty, vehicle-drawn apparatus for use when: • The area where the firebreak is required is navigable by vehicle. • The distances involved are large. Firebreaker is ideal for burning firebreaks: • On crop farms, cattle farms, and game farms. • In parks and reserves. • Between plantations. • Near hazardous sites. • In wildland-urban interfaces. Some specialized applications for Firebreaker: • Creating firebreaks around plantations where grading is contraindicated due to root sensitivity e.g. protea farms. • Improving or maintaining firebreaks created by other methods in forest or dense bush, by the safe, controlled burning of surface or fine fuels. • Creating or maintaining airfield-perimeter firebreaks. |
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How Firebreaker works Firebreaker has two components: • The Basic Burner is the primary component that ignites the fuel. • The Afterburner is an optional component that further improves safety and operational speed by increasing the enclosed burning area. |
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The Basic Burner consists of: • A burning system—a burning chamber with 2 liquid petroleum gas (LPG) burners, mounted on skids. • A water system—adjustable spray heads on the sides of the burning chamber. |
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› Vegetation is ignited by the gas burners mounted in front of the burning chamber. › Flames are kept inside the burning chamber by a positive upward draught. › Water from the adjustable spray heads wets the ground on either side of the burning chamber, preventing the sideways spread of flames. › Burning occurs safely within the confines of the chamber. › Drawn behind a low-gear vehicle, the Basic Burner burns a 1,35-m wide strip. › By successively burning parallel strips, and then doing a controlled burn between these strips, you can make a firebreak of any width. |
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The Afterburner consists of: • A burning chamber (without gas burners) mounted on skids. • A water system—adjustable spray heads on the sides of the burning chamber. |
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› The optional Afterburner is hitched behind the Basic Burner to extend the
enclosed burning area. › It improves safety, thereby increasing operating speed. › The Afterburner is recommended when the grass is very long, or operational speed is important. |
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Firebreaker Support Equipment Firebreaker is pulled by a low-gear vehicle such as: • A tractor • A 4x4 pickup truck • A Mercedes Unimog The following auxiliary equipment is required: • A gas cylinder with fittings for liquid withdrawal. • An independent water supply (water sprayer) with water tank, pump, and high-pressure handgun. The auxiliary equipment cannot be carried on the Firebreaker. It can be carried on: • The towing vehicle (a tractor may require a platform such as a modified three-point hitch). • A trailer directly behind the towing vehicle. |