Cherokee County

Fire Cache

Prescribed Burn Equipment

(Call 225-6709 for info or to reserve equipment)

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Always wear natural materials such as cotton, wool, and leather, when burning, even as underclothes! However, even cotton will catch fire if it soaks up a little drip torch fuel. Nomex, a material designed to be flame resistant, worn over cotton protects from both heat and flame. The CCCB has two Nomex jumpsuits for your personal use.

Drip Torches
The CCCB has four of these canister-shaped tools designed to steadily drip a gas/diesel mix from a burning wick, to drop fire where you want it. Users of these torches should be prepared to provide their own diesel fuel and gas (in a 3:1 ratio).

Flappers
Flappers are designed to smother flames or smoldering material. Built like a floppy shovel on a long handle, often this is the only tool needed to extinguish fire in light fuels such as grass or leaves. The CCCB has up to 4 flappers available.

Pick-up Water Tank
This 110-gallon water tank sits on a wooden frame in a small or full-size pick-up bed. You provide the pump or hose and valves to feed water from a bottom-mounted fitting. This tank will gravity-feed your backpacks for extra water, or may be set up as a spray tank with a small pump and a few fittings and a garden hose.

What else will you need?
Other things you might consider to protect and outfit  you and your crew are lighters, goggles or glasses, helmets with heat shields, smoke masks or bandanas, gloves, radios for communication, rakes, and lots of water both for drinking and for fire suppression (you can’t have too much of either).

All fire equipment provided by CCCB is free and first-come, first-served. Donations are accepted for updates and additional burn equipment, and are kept in a separate fund used strictly for the fire cache. Fire is a great tool! Careful planning and good equipment will help make it a safe tool!