The largest risk of wildland fire is unmanaged forests. In areas where wildlands are left unmanaged because of restrictions from laws, policies, or extreme terrain the risk of wildfire poses a threat. If a wildfire starts, wildland firefighters use similar techniques to timber companies to manage the spread of fire. In wildland fire suppression, firefighters will construct a fireline to cut off the supply of fuels much like strip-cutting. The objective is to remove or to reduce the amount of flammable materials that allow the fire to build up in intensity or continue to spread. Factors that are taken into
consideration when deciding how and where to construct a fireline are the type and amount of available fuel, topography, and weather conditions. A fireline is sometimes referred to as a "firebreak." While some are deliberately made, others may be natural or already existing. For instance, certain rivers, lakes, or canyons could be considered
a natural firebreak because they lack the fuel fires need to burn. Roads can often serve as an already-existing manmade fireline.
By creating firelines, wildland firefighters attempt to deprive a fire of the ____ that it needs to spread. (4 letters)