Alabama's Prescribed Burn Associations - Alabama Prescribed Fire Council

Alabama’s Prescribed Burn Associations

A Prescribed Burn Association (PBA)—often called a prescribed fire association—is a group of landowners, land managers, and sometimes agency partners who work together to plan and carry out prescribed fires on private or shared lands.

At its core, a PBA is a cooperative model. Members pool labor, equipment, and experience to safely apply fire, especially in places where an individual landowner might not have enough resources to burn on their own.

PBAs typically:

Organize and facilitate conducting burns across member’s properties
Share tools like drip torches, radios, and protective gear
Provide hands-on training through “learn and burn” events
Help members navigate planning, weather, and safety requirements
Build local capacity and confidence to use fire as a land management tool

Growing more common in the southeastern United States, where prescribed fire is widely used to manage forests, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce hazardous fuel buildup. The “neighbors helping neighbors” structure is what makes PBAs effective—they combine local knowledge with shared responsibility to get more beneficial fire on the ground safely.

Southern Pine Hills Prescribed Burn Association

Service area (10-county footprint in southwest Alabama)