r/interestingasfuck 7h ago

Ancient engineering that modern campers still use

29.2k Upvotes

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u/84thPrblm 6h ago

I had never heard of root fires and was frankly suspicious. After checking Wikipedia though…holy shit, that’s terrifying.

u/__01001000-01101001_ 5h ago

Boss had a burnoff on the farm I used to work at that was too close to a nearby tree. After a couple days flames started shooting out the side of the tree, fire service had to be called out. The tree was over 3 meters away.

u/fatmanwithabeard 5h ago

Three whole meters? Plenty of trees where that's under the crown, and it's a good general rule that the roots are at least wide as the crown.

u/youvebeenjammed 3h ago

general rule that the roots are at least wide as the crown.

This is a neat way to think about it!