How do fire fighters use science?

Smaller forest fires can be put out by spraying water in the right places. Large fires are usually put out by a combination of methods which can include dumping large amounts of water from an aircraft and various ways of cutting off the burning part from the fuel source. This can be in the form of cutting trees to create a gap that fire cannot cross, digging ditches to prevent fire from spreading over ground cover, and sometimes even using a controlled burn to do the same things.