Visibility to helicopters if lost, stranded or injured

Sarcasm. Who says it doesn't translate online?

Keep in mind we are talking about very specific circumstances here, late fall with snow on the ground. At that point the fire season is over. If a fire did start, unlikely as that is, it can not persist for long. Too cold and too damp. The forestry folks take advantage of this period to burn slash piles. Why? because the risk is so low.

From a survival standpoint, getting a patch of trees to burn long enough to be seen will be a bigger concern than the possibility of a runaway fire.

In any case, thousands of acres of forest burn every year, as they have for centuries.

Backfires are lit all the time to protect homes.
A persons life is more valuable than anybody's house and I am confident a judge will see it that way as well.

True, it isn't a great option but it is better than no option.

Edited to be less snippy. As fun as that is.

Thanks for dialing it down. I will try and do the same. My point is that you would be trying a signalling technique that isn't as effective as many others mentioned – signal mirrors, especially. We haven't placed much emphasis in this thread on the newer electronic devices like PLBs which generally work quite well.

As an old smoke eater, I don't think highly of arsonists, even when it might be hypothetically justified. mother Nature sets plenty of fires as it is. Conditions for fire spread and propagation can be tricky, especially for the untrained and naive (the largest forest fire in Arizona history was ignited by a lost hunter, I believe). I have seen fires spreading right along, even with fire on the ground. Slope orientation, vegetation type, and wind are major factors.

I would agree that, in extremis, I would commit an illegal act, rather than perish, but that is pretty unlikely.