Let's clarify some terms:
a burn pile is cut material, piled and burned per local rules.
It is a form of "controlled burning" in that there is someone there with water, hand, tools, etc (again per local rules), and thus not a "hostile fire."
Burning standing vegetation is another type of controlled burning, usually referred to as a burn out operation, (or firing, burning out, NOT back burn) and is used for fuels reduction, perimeter strengthening of an active fire, etc.
Nationwide, many lives have been lost, and much property destroyed, by planned, professional burn out operations that went awry (became hostile fires);
- the wind came up or changed direction (poor planning?)
- firing was done differently that the plan called for (free-lancing?)
- fire behavior was different than predicted (poor planning?)
Millions have been paid out in damages by the USFS, NPS, BLM, US F&W, and state agencies for these runaway conflagrations. And they had fire behavior analysts, trained firing and fuels management crews, etc, in place.
Then there are the unplanned "just throw a fusee into the weeds" fires that pay no attention to anything; such a fire across the mountains from us killed a herd of cattle and darn near killed several state firefighters.
It was done by an impatient landowner during a large wildfire.
My point?
Go for the burn piles- they are a great tool. Burn your piles in accordance with local regulations, and stay with them, ready to stop spread, flying embers, etc.
Even if the regs don't address this, NEVER burn during east winds if you live west of the Cascades or Sierras.
As for burning out- it is not a good tool for homeowners.
Unless you have your local fire agency working directly with you on the planning as well as the actual operation (and they really know what they are doing), the risks and liabilities are too great.
Alternatives?
Washington state (and many others) uses Fire Wise funds and state corrections fire crews to do no-burn fuels reduction in conjunction with the feds, local fire districts and even city FDs.
This is done at NO COST to the homeowner.
Finally, water tender; this is not an east vs. west thing, any more than wearing seat belts on every trip is. It is standard terminology for the English-speaking world, just like the terms above.
There are also helicopter tenders, fuel tenders, etc, etc.
Yet, I continue to hear folks east of the Mississippi insist that those big pavement queens are "tankers" as if they are trying to fight some sort of government intrusion into their lives by keeping outdated slang.(????)
Worse yet, those of us out west have puzzled for decades about the ongoing firefighter deaths back east as a result of not wearing seat belts while responding... Totally senseless and utterly avoidable.
Are the two connected?
...Retired fire incident commander (west coast)
Thankfully, those types of fires are not common here but you never know. 