Prairie fires are a trully impressive and awe-inspiring sight, as flames can reach up to forty feet high.
Unlike forest fires, prairie fires do not smolder. Instead, they can best be described as a wave, an expanding circle of flame which leaves the center bare and flat, covered only with ash.
Prairie fires are usually performed either in the spring or fall, when the majority of the grass is dead or dying. If it is done in the spring, it encourages the growth of the summer grasses and discourages the spring flowers; if it is performed in the fall, the situation is reversed. Native Americans prefered to set fires in the fall, but today the managers of many prairie remnants prefer to alternate between fall and spring burns, in order to create a balance between both types of plants.