A new fire control aid called the Morgan Fire Douser may be just what you need to put out grass fires and to control pasture burning. It uses no water, is light enough to carry across fences, ravines and ditches and fits easily in a car trunk or truck cab for transport.

Consisting of a 5 ft. removable handle and a heavy aluminum surface plate, the Fire Douser is glided back and forth across the fire surface to smother it out and knock down unburned fuel. "It takes very little effort to use; the weight of the tool itself will knock down the fuel. This works to continually reduce the temperature and kill the fire," explains inventor-manufacturer Donald Vogt, Owatonna, Minn.

Although it's primarily designed for controlled pasture burning, the Fire Douser can also be used to put out uncontrolled grass fires.

Vogt maintains that the Fire Douser is a big improvement over conventional fire fighting weapons like shovels and brooms. "I've seen people actually spread the fire with such tools. But the Fire Douser just knocks down the grass and takes the fuel away. It also has advantages over hand water sprayers since you never have to quit for refills, and it weighs less than a full sprayer.

"About the only place it won't work is in bogs or in brush you can't knock down by hand," Vogt adds.