burnout
n.— «Fortunately it didn’t quite come to that, thanks to quick thinking from fire crews, who initiated burnouts. It may look out of hand, but these fires were set by firefighters intentionally. The idea…if you set a fire yourself, you’re in control of it, and if the real fire comes close there won’t be anything left on the ground to fuel the blaze.» —“Hot Day Ahead for Firefighters in S. Utah” by Sammy Linebaugh KSL-TV (Salt Lake City, Utah) June 30, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)