(Image: taking samples and installing loggers in dense gorse shrub before the fire)

In a collaborative project with Manchester University and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Services, an experimental fire in a gorse stand was conducted earlier this year to examine the behaviour and effect of a prescribed management fire.  Prescribed burns are considered to become more widely used in the UK to manage species diversity and to reduce the risk of severe fires in specific areas. Professor Stefan Doerr (Geography) and Dr Rob Bryant (Engineering) collected data on heat propagation and examined the effect of the fire on soil properties.

(Image: the fire)

This provided the first dataset of its kind for a management burn in the UK. The data is currently being evaluated.