Burn Trailers
Exterior of prescribed burn trailer while being built.
We support landowners with equipment to implement more and better prescribed fire.
Minnesota Pheasants Forever has three fully-equipped prescribed burn trailers that can be loaned out to to private landowners seeking to implement prescribed fire on their lands. These trailers are deployed in areas where landowners are cooperatively burning as part of a new or existing Prescribed Burn Association. The overall goal of this project is to increase the safe and effective use of prescribed fire on the privately-owned landscape of Minnesota.
Interior of burn trailer, with equipment to conduct a modest-sized burn.
What's inside
Each trailer contains equipment to conduct a modest-sized burn and enough personal protective equipment to outfit 12 personnel. Some of the key equipment includes:
- 2 gas-powered, 65-gallon pump units sized to fit in a side-by-side utility vehicles (UTV)
- 2 electric, 26-gallon pump units for mounting on all-terrain vehicles (ATV)
- 4 backpack water pumps
- 6 drip torches with fuel extra fuel cans
- Various fire hand tools
- 12 two-way radios with chest harnesses
- Nomex shirts
- Gloves
- Helmets
Getting a trailer
Usage of these trailers is focused on areas where groups of landowners are working together to cooperatively burn their properties. Individual landowners may be loaned a trailer on a limited basis as availability allows. We ask everyone to understand that the need for this equipment far exceeds our ability to supply it. The best way to conduct your own burn is to get involved with a forming or existing Prescribed Burn Association, or start one in your own area.
If you would like to be placed on the list for a burn trailer, or inquire about Prescribed Burn Associations, contact Jason Andersen, Minnesota Prescribed Fire Coordinator, by email at jandersen@pheasantsforever.org. Please be aware that being placed on the list does not guarantee a trailer will be available for the window of your burn.
Checkout Agreement
The use of these burn trailers is a partnership between private landowners and Pheasants Forever. Each landowner that utilizes a trailer or any of the contained equipment to burn on their property must complete an equipment checkout agreement. This agreement sets the terms for a landowner to borrow this equipment from Pheasants Forever for their burn.
The agreement can be completed online using the button below. A copy of the agreement is available to view or download for your records.
Usage Fee
To help cover ongoing costs, Minnesota Pheasants Forever asks landowners to pay a $75 usage fee for each burn in which a trailer or the contained equipment is used. The usage fee can be paid online using the button below. These funds go towards trailer and equipment maintenance, equipment additions, and property insurance for Pheasants Forever to own the trailers.
Eastern redcedar trees killed after a successful grassland burn.
Activity Report
We collect information on how the trailers are used so we can get more of them.
If you have completed a burn using equipment from a trailer, Pheasants Forever asks that an use report be completed. This is a simple form that can be completed online using the button below. This information is collected, anonymized, and used to apply for funding to purchase additional fire equipment, or to fund future prescribed fire projects.
Resources
Coming soon: Links to PDF documents including trailer inventory sheets, posters, user manuals, and other stuff like that.
Acknowledgements
These trailers were made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and with support from their Minnesota staff. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
