Burn protection for wood poles

Abstract

Poles are protected from fire damage by forming a vegetation-free buffer zone around them that needs little or no routine maintenance to retain its effectiveness. This is implemented by pole-protection systems and methods that include a peripheral apron positioned around the pole and sized to form the desired vegetation-free zone, and a cover that covers and protects the apron. In example embodiments, the apron is made of a woven geotextile fabric with an annular shape, with a central opening for receiving the pole, with a radial slit forming free ends for displacing to install the apron around the pole and for returning and fastening in place to form a continuously extending peripheral sheet. And the cover is made of crushed and washed rock forming a rock bed that covers the apron to protect and insulate it from UV radiation and fire damage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for protecting a pole from fire damage, the system comprising:
 a peripheral apron with an internal opening, wherein the apron is installed continuously surrounding the pole with the internal opening receiving the pole therethrough and with the apron defining a vegetation-free buffer zone, wherein the apron is made of a material with a strength and permeability selected to resist vegetation growth through it; and   a peripheral cover that covers the apron and is made of a material that protects the apron from UV and fire damage, wherein the cover is installed continuously surrounding the pole.   
     
     
         2 . The pole-protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the apron is made of a geotextile fabric. 
     
     
         3 . The pole-protection system of  claim 2 , wherein the geotextile fabric is a woven geotextile fabric. 
     
     
         4 . The pole-protection system of  claim 3 , wherein the woven geotextile fabric is a sheet of 200 oz woven stabilization geotextile fabric. 
     
     
         5 . The pole-protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the apron has an inner dimension selected to conform to an outer dimension of the pole to provide a snug fit of the apron against the pole. 
     
     
         6 . The pole-protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the apron has an outer dimension selected to define a sufficiently large size of the vegetation-free buffer zone based on local vegetation. 
     
     
         7 . The pole-protection system of  claim 6 , wherein the outer dimension is relatively larger for an application in which local vegetation is relatively taller and the outer dimension is relatively smaller for an application in which local vegetation is relatively shorter. 
     
     
         8 . The pole-protection system of  claim 6 , wherein the outer dimension is in the range of about 4 feet to about 20 feet. 
     
     
         9 . The pole-protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the apron has two adjacent radially extending free ends defining a radial slit, wherein the apron free ends can be displaced from adjacent each other in order to position the apron around the pole with the pole received in the internal opening, and wherein the apron free ends can be returned to adjacent each other in a use position with the apron continuously surrounding the pole. 
     
     
         10 . The pole-protection system of  claim 9 , further comprising fasteners that are installed to secure the radial free ends of the apron in place in the use position. 
     
     
         11 . The pole-protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the cover is made of a layer of rock material forming a rock bed. 
     
     
         12 . The pole-protection system of  claim 11 , wherein the rock material is washed rock. 
     
     
         13 . The pole-protection system of  claim 12 , wherein the washed rock is about ¾ inch to about 1 inch in size. 
     
     
         14 . The pole-protection system of  claim 11 , wherein the rock bed is about 2 inches to about 3 inches in thickness. 
     
     
         15 . A pole-protection method using the pole-protection system of  claim 1 , comprising:
 clearing existing vegetation from around the pole to reveal vegetation-free ground of a size larger than the apron;   positioning the apron on the cleared ground and around the pole to resist vegetation growth in the vegetation-free zone; and   installing the cover on top of the apron to protect the apron from UV and fire damage.   
     
     
         16 . A system for protecting a utility pole from fire damage, the system comprising:
 a peripheral apron with a central opening, wherein the apron is installed continuously surrounding the pole with the central opening receiving the pole therethrough and with the apron defining a vegetation-free buffer zone, wherein the apron is made of a woven geotextile fabric with a strength and permeability selected to resist vegetation growth through it, wherein the apron has an inner diameter selected to conform to an outer diameter of the pole to provide a snug fit of the apron against the pole, wherein the apron has an outer diameter selected to define a sufficiently large size of the vegetation-free buffer zone based on local vegetation, wherein the outer diameter is larger than about 4 feet, wherein the apron has two adjacent radially extending free ends defining a radial slit, wherein the radial free ends can be displaced from adjacent each other in order to position the apron around the pole with the pole received in the internal opening, wherein the apron free ends can be returned to adjacent each other in a use position with the apron continuously surrounding the pole, and further comprising fasteners that are installed to secure the radial free ends of the apron in place in the use position; and   a peripheral cover that covers the apron and is made of a layer of rock material forming a rock bed that protects the apron from UV and fire damage, wherein the cover is installed continuously surrounding the pole.   
     
     
         17 . The pole-protection system of  claim 16 , wherein the woven geotextile fabric is a sheet of 200 oz woven stabilization geotextile fabric, wherein the rock material is washed rock about ¾ inch to about 1 inch in size, and wherein the rock bed is about 2 inches to about 3 inches in thickness. 
     
     
         18 . A method of protecting a utility pole from fire damage, the method comprising:
 clearing existing vegetation from around the pole to reveal vegetation-free ground of a size larger than a desired vegetation-free zone;   positioning a peripheral apron on the cleared ground and around the pole to resist vegetation growth in the vegetation-free zone, wherein the apron has a central opening sized to fit snugly against the pole, wherein the apron has an outer diameter that is larger than about 4 feet and defining the vegetation-free zone, and wherein the apron is made of a woven geotextile fabric with a strength and permeability selected to resist vegetation growth through it; and   installing a peripheral cover on top of the apron to protect the apron from UV and fire damage, wherein the cover is made of a layer of rock material forming a rock bed that protects the apron from UV and fire damage, wherein the cover is installed continuously surrounding the pole.   
     
     
         19 . The pole-protection method of  claim 18 , wherein the apron has two radially extending free ends defining a radial slit, and wherein the apron-positioning step includes:
 displacing the radial free ends from adjacent each other in order to position the apron around the pole with the pole in the internal opening;   returning the apron free ends to adjacent each other in a use position with the apron continuously surrounding the pole; and   installing fasteners that secure the radial free ends of the apron in place in the use position.   
     
     
         20 . The pole-protection method of  claim 19 , wherein the apron-positioning step includes positioning the radial slit on a downhill side of the pole.