Anthropogenic linear disturbances have been hypothesized to exert positive and negative effects on fire behaviour. My thesis focuses on quantifying the influence of roads, pipelines and seismic lines on fire ignition frequency and escape from initial suppression. I considered fires that ignited between 1995 and 2002 within a [approximate]67 000 km 2 region of boreal mixedwood forest in northeastern Alberta where linear features are highly abundant. I found a positive association between the number of lightning-caused fires igniting per unit area and road density, with this effect confined to summer and possibly spring. I found no evidence for a pipeline or seismic line effect, even after accounting for seasonality and scale dependency. Linear features did not influence fire escape probability; rather, this process was strongly affected by forest composition, fire weather and management decisions. My results suggest that, in the face of projected road developments in the region, the potential exists for important changes to the fire regime.