Forest Fires!!

[monkeymonk]

Most fires round here are lightning fires. Lightning can strike and trees can smolder and blow up (ignite) a few days later. Forest/Praire pyro's suck.

Some Fires are even started by Fire Fighters or their relatives. It's a big buisness you and your Crew don't make money sitting around doing nothing during fire season. Years ago they were trying to catch this pyro...long story short....the pyro was caught and it turned out to be a crew chiefs 60yr old mother....Job security...They had't had a fire in years.

I just wish I had a water Truck!!!! $1,800 A Day. Mostly sitting or driving short distances. 20-30days on Thats $36,000-$54,000. MUST GET WATER TRUCK...

My one friend started a 2,000 acre fire on accident Luckily the place he was caretaking had insurance...Not that the place burned down But he had to pay...He doesn't have very much money what so ever so I do believe He pays $10 a month for the rest of his life........he's 67. Not many houses out here just deep Wilderness and National Forest.

Smoke came back in force today and the Heli-base starts round 8am Choppers in choppers out Kinda getting used to the Heli-base......day?
must say my chickens Do Not like the choppers what so ever.Think were stuck with this smoke till the rains come...Honey is outside dancing right now!

 

[LarryD]

My hunting buddy took a drive over to the Tripod fire this weekend and talked to one of the rangers. Their strategy is to protect as many residential "concetrations" (ie..town of Concunully) as possible and wait for winter. Our hunting grounds are gone.

The irony is the area was infested with some beetle that had all but completly wipped out the spruce trees, a good portion of the forest. This has probably intensified the fire with all the standing dead.

In about 50 years it should be it will be back the way I remember it.

 

[slaveToHorses]

Beetle infestations have provided fuel for many a forest fire, that's for sure.

We were out camping the other week and had to divert to a secondary location because our first choice was closed due to a fire. The Lake George fire, six down on the inciweb page. Eirey being out camping and having the big water choppers fly overhead! Better than hearing it at my house though.

Good luck man, I hope your property is spared and by a wide margin.

 

[WhyNot]

Living in an area were forest fires are slim to none I have a few question's
1. If you live in an area that is prone to forest fires do you need extra insurance sort of like flood insurance around here.
2. If you use your land to grow marketable timber and it burn's if there are any log's or tree's left standing even though they are blackened can they still be cut and sold so everything is not a total loss?
Good luck out there

 

[rox]

Well it is August so it is fire season in the south of France. The last weekend of July there is this huge convoy of firetrucks from all over France, and they all basically drive to the south of France and just wait for the fires that are going to happen. We were driving to our conso in Cannes and saw the firetruck campouts. Basically they go camping for a month, they are not sitting in firehouses or anything, they are parked in high risk forested areas.

Sunday we wre at a family party and my nephew called his mom, my sister in law. He is a firefighter in Saint Tropez, which actually the surrounding hills are huge fire risks. There was a pretty big fire jsut outside saint Tropez and 3 firefighters from the his area were killed. They were driving a fietruck and went down fast into a ravine. he called to tell his mom not to worry that he was safe.

After our big fire experience of last year, now when we see smoke we et in the car and drive around to see if it is close to us or not. Did that a couple of times already this year. So far it seems like a better fire year than last year, better meaning ther are fewer fires (so far).

An intersting note, I didn't know that one of the factors in getting a building permit in our part of France involves the risk of fire. Probably a few of you might know that France played against Italy in the soccer world cup, I think it was last month. the big French player is Zidane. he wanted to buy 40 acres not far form Saint Tropez and my sister in law was handling his request for a building permit. She works in the Building Permit department. She knew right away that the big hill he wanted to buy would not qualify because of the risk of fire, the fire department could not protect a home in that area. She brough it to her boss and her boss said, let's jsut get the Fire Chief to inspect the area and issue a report, let's not have this on our shoulders. The fire cheif said he didn't need to go out and look, he knew the area like the back of his hand and the location would be indefensible. So Zidan got his permit turned down. But really I had no idea that building permits were tied to the ability of firefighters, but i guess it makes sense. Just a side not that some soccer fans might enjoy reading about...

 

[rox]

Stumpfied,
I looked very closely at your photographs. Are the hills always that bare? there seems so little vegetation, are they always like that or is it the result of a previous fire? There really doesn't look like there is all that much to burn on the land. Not like in Monkeymonks area, there it looks like plenty of fuel for a fire in his part of California.

You need to not depend on the wind driving the fire away from you. A fire will make it's own wind and burn contra the direction of a very very strong wind. This happened to us last year, we probably had 50mph winds coming right at us and the second day the fire burned against the wind (it created it's own wind) and we were spared, again.

 

[stumpfield]

Stumpfied,
I looked very closely at your photographs. Are the hills always that bare? there seems so little vegetation, are they always like that or is it the result of a previous fire? There really doesn't look like there is all that much to burn on the land. Not like in Monkeymonks area, there it looks like plenty of fuel for a fire in his part of California.

There were a few trees but not like northern california. A typical southern california hillside. A bigger fire 2 years ago burned pretty much all the trees and larger brushes.

 

[turnkey4099]

Living in an area were forest fires are slim to none I have a few question's
1. If you live in an area that is prone to forest fires do you need extra insurance sort of like flood insurance around here.
2. If you use your land to grow marketable timber and it burn's if there are any log's or tree's left standing even though they are blackened can they still be cut and sold so everything is not a total loss?
Good luck out there

Yes, it is marketable. After every fire the FS tries to sell the salvage but the environuts keep appeals going until usually the stuff has gone to waste. There really is no great quality loss to green timber that has been fire killed. Very black but the bark is stripped anyway before going to the head saw. I don't know if there is any dockage at the mill though. Not fun to harvest as you come out looking like you work in a coal mine.

Harry K

 

[_RaT_]

Yes, it is marketable. After every fire the FS tries to sell the salvage but the environuts keep appeals going until usually the stuff has gone to waste. There really is no great quality loss to green timber that has been fire killed. Very black but the bark is stripped anyway before going to the head saw. I don't know if there is any dockage at the mill though. Not fun to harvest as you come out looking like you work in a coal mine.

Harry K

A little different in Northern California, after fires, there is a lot of logging going on out here. You would think that the home of the Sierra Club would watch their own backyard more carefully, either that or they devolped some common sense in the last year, nawwww..

 

[monkeymonk]

A little different in Northern California, after fires, there is a lot of logging going on out here. You would think that the home of the Sierra Club would watch their own backyard more carefully, either that or they devolped some common sense in the last year, nawwww..

You should see how many sale's We appeal (not talking SC either). Yes there is marketable timber but that doesn't mean open season.I don't know about "alot" of logging, much less then in the past...I think "they" learned clear cutting after a fire Doesn't promote "Forest Health" either does planting pines and firs (plantations) and not having the resource to maintain those plantations.... in turn having those same plantations burn again or paying more money to maintain those plantations than the timber value was in the first place.

Burned forests still provide a shade canopy, and nutrients for young native seedlings that flurish after a Fire..as well as holding the soil in place, providing moisture, habitat for creatures and micro organisms....don't forget the micronuts!

Harry is on it....depending on the intensity of the fire and appeals
From experience the FS takes alot of green trees after a fire and use's the "Salvage" guist inapropriately. Does anybody really trust the GVT.(don't answer that)
Everyone has come a long way since "Us" and "them" things go good when we drop the "name tags" and work together, when it comes down to it "WE" all want the same thing Healthy forests.

the first picture is our families property and surrounding area that burned in 1977,1987. note the back drop which was heavily logged and not properly maintained is not looking so good.

the next two are from today on our outing, the river fire and the road

Back to original topic of fire. Air quality was very poor today with heavy spotting in areas the main fire near us is under control (mostly) with the other main fire/complex down river raging! its the start of hunting season up here and most of the down river access is closed. I can't see why anyone would want to hunt up here in this thick of a smoke,of course with this much fire activity the dear are moving around alot... but the pressure on the lungs is tough!! the 600 fire personel moved over to the main uncles complex miles north of us and were expecting 3-400 more to come back to fight the "oven-bake"fire thats supposed to jump the wilderness ridge and come down our way shortly...rumor has it that it already has jumped...so i guess were just waiting at this point??? theres around 4,000 fire personel between Happy Camp and our place. From what weve heard Idaho/Montana are blazing right now...

Iam no fire Ecologist but from what i do know Stumpfield deals with fast moving hot fires and lots a wind.....amazing the conditions these fires create breathing and moving about
Rox how big do the fires get in france? and what type of fuels?