Oregon Looking At Using Machine For Pile Burns

Pile burning, and the smoke it produces, could soon be a thing of the past in Oregon.  Via a pilot project, the Bureau of Land Management is testing the CharBoss Air Curtain Incinerator to burn the debris left behind from hazard tree logging efforts.

“It’s sort of a cross between a big fireplace and maybe a shipping container. So, it’s a big rectangular machine that controls how much air and oxygen is let in or kept out of the fire.”

The BLM’s Sarah Bennett says the debris smolders slowly, producing high-quality charcoal that then gets mixed back into the soil of burn areas.  She noted the box reduces the amount of smoke sent into nearby communities, and the risk of an escaped pile burn.  Bennett called it a new application for an ancient technology.

“Was used by indigenous people in Central and South America to create this sort of fertilizer; this soil enricher.”

The CharBoss is currently being used to clear debris from the Holiday Farm burn area, outside of Springfield, but Bennett says the pilot project will eventually send the machine to other areas where slash burns are common.

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