Firebreak

Plow cutting a firebreak in advance of a forest fire in South Carolina, United States

A firebreak is a way to fight wildfires by allowing no vegetation or other material that can burn. That makes it hard for a fire to jump across the break. Therefore, the spread of a possible fire is delayed.

Rocky Point Trail acted as a firebreak for a forest fire in the McDonald Lake region of Glacier National Park, Montana, United States, in the summer of 2003.

Firebreak Media

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  Red fire retardant dispersed aerially onto brush adjoining a firebreak during the Tumbleweed Fire in California, in July 2021; while vegetation to the left of the firebreak has completely burned, everything to its right was protected

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  A poster promoting plowing to create a fire break

• A video explaining firebreaks and contingency lines during the North Complex Fire.

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  By comparing the burnt (right) and unburnt (left) sides of a dirt road in South Africa after a major veldfire (grassland fire) the effectiveness of the road in acting as a firebreak can be seen.

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  Firebreak in the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in New Jersey's Pine Barrens ecoregion