Safety Zones / Escape

Safety is the number one priority, as is apparent in the control of wildfires, where a daily safety plan is generated.  This plan includes the location of safety zones and escape routes.  TimberMark™ can be utilized to quickly mark visible safety zones and escape routes for ground fire fighting crews, to lead them to these safe zones away from the fire.  Additionally these marked lines are easily seen from aircraft working on the fire and as the fire changes, new safety zones and escape routes can be easily marked.  The ease and flexibility of marking with TimberMark™ lends itself well to this situation.

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Bulldozer Line Production

Bulldozers are an important fire-fighting tool.  When dozers are sent out to create firebreaks, they may not have adequate directions on how to get to the proper location quickly and safely.  This creates a potentially dangerous situation for the dozer operator.  TimberMark™ can be used in these situations to paint a line for the dozer to follow to ensure it arrives safely at the right location, without unnecessary delays.

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Tanker Drop Zones

Often air-tankers will “pre-treat” lines in order to suppress wildfires.  TimberMark™ can be utilized to visibly mark “pre-treat” drop locations based on instructions from an air-attack officer.  By using TimberMark™, the air-attack officer’s radio time would be significantly reduced, thereby giving that person more time to monitor aircraft traffic and the fire’s progress.

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Hot Spot Markers

During “mop-up” stages of the fire, aircraft are dispatched to locations where heat is detected (visually or with infrared cameras) to assist in putting “hot spots” out.  TimberMark™ can be used to delineate and mark “hot spots” to help both ground crews and aircraft in “hot spot” suppression.

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Timber Salvage Layout

Where timber salvage projects are necessary for the removal of trees that are dead, dying, or threatened by wildfire, insects, diseases, and other natural disasters; rapid action is necessary to maximize timber value.  Due to TimberMark™’s high rate of productivity, large tracts of land can be delineated and marked in a short time span.  This not only maximizes timber values and improves forest health, it eliminates some of the important, yet time-consuming, laborious tasks that will then allow the project manager to focus on the higher priority issues.

Soil Erosion Control

The most immediate consequence of fire is the potential for soil erosion.  It is often necessary for landowners to take quick action to minimize erosion once it's safe to return to the site.  TimberMark™ can provide the necessary assistance for ground crews and aircraft (i.e. aerial mulching or granular erosion product; PAM-12) with a clearly marked line on the ground to ensure that soil stabilization efforts are carried out quickly and effectively.

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Telemetry

This system is designed to work with certain aircraft DGPS guidance systems.  Having compatibility between these two systems allows data to flow not only from the aircraft to ground but, it also has the ability to go from the ground back to the aircraft.  This information can be uploaded back into the aircraft’s guidance system and then painted using TimberLink.

Utilizing TimberLink to assist with fighting forest fires or as a tool in post-fire projects can be a significant improvement upon the current methods employed today.

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2002 Biscuit Post-Fire Timber Salvage Layout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon - USFS