Burning Brush Piles

Thank you everyone for all the advice. I've read each reply carefully and will consider all the advice as we undertake this. Unfortunately, here near Dallas, snow is a rarity. I've been in contact with our volunteer fire department and others and all say that now is the best time to burn in our area. So we intend to try a couple piles tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Funny that you mention this because the area I've cleared will be converted into a hugel garden! Unfortunately, the trees which were cleared are almost entirely cedar. Cedars break down too slowly and also have allelopathic properties which inhibit the growth of surrounding vegetation. However, I did drag out a few hardwoods which were mixed in the piles and will indeed bury those.

Something I'm surprised nobody mentioned:

Keep your fire small so that it's always under control. There's nothing scarier than having an unexpected gust of wind hit a humongous fire and throw flames 50 feet out. If your pile is bigger than the size of a Volkswagen, consider using it as the "feeder pile" and feeding the material slowly into a smaller pile a safe distance away.

I separated out the cedar when preparing my hugelkultur beds and used them for posts... now I have turkey tail mushrooms coming out of them!