Fire

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The problem with these fires is the dead trees left and the accelerated growth of the fuel base which will only add to the fuel load for the next fire if not addressed properly. They have the opportunity to mitigate the buildup of the fuel load with control burns, access roads, Fire-lanes, proper management and such if they take advantage of the time given to them.

We were once in a dicey situation with a Control Burn where the helicopter made a mistake and boxed us in on the Helibase and a fire was headed for us with the wind. The only thing we could do is a Burn Out around us. We went upwind and started firing a line out each side and worked our way back down wind as the Burn Out progressed, This left black ground and a safety zone behind us. The main fire went around us, we were lucky we had time to prepare, the helicopter pilot realized what he had done and radioed us in time to prepare, he came in and helped us with the Burn Out and created a much larger Fire Perimeter.
The problem out west is these fires can move so fast that unburned fuel is left behind and you can have the danger of Reburn.
 
Shout out to Tyler at Bothe State park in CA; currently encircled by the Glass fire in Sonoma and Napa Counties. Not looking good over there; hope that they can pull this one out.

Yah, I've been wondering. That park needs to burn but at a better time and not so hot. Saw a news clip with crews doing a burnout near Calistoga and I was hoping they were able to do that in the park.

I can't even send any rain to trade for the smoke we are getting....:(
 
The tribe owns or owned the mill. The story I got, and it may not be factual, was that the tribe wanted to lease out the mill but they were requiring that some or maybe it was that upgrades had to be made to make it operable and up to date. They were expecting whoever would lease it to make all the improvements and pay for it. Does that make sense? Not to mention that the tribe's forest lands have been burning up. I think I read where they lost a quarter? a third? of their tree inventory a few years ago.

We see logs being hauled over to Colville and even logs going west somewhere--Darrington? Probably a load a day for a truck. Possibly two for Colville. Maybe not.
bit late on this one, Depending on which pass they go over, there is a SP mill in Burlington for HWY 20, or Darrington same highway, I heard the scuttlebutt that a lot of loads were coming to Darrington from the east side... but scuttlebutt..

If they Go over I90, there is several options, there is a resort/export yard in Snoqualmie that just opened up, Formark in Everett is back online (after recovering a little from the trade war BS) or if its big stuff they might go to BUSE in Everett as well, maybe Canyon Creek, if its real purdy logs... them jerks are picky picky

Buddy of mine spent the better part of the summer/spring/winter hauling ceder from this side to Kettle Falls, then picking up a load from over there somewhere and bringing it back from what I understand the mill in Kettle Falls covers trucking... why there is a ceder mill over there is beyond me but what evs... For the record its 300 miles one way... with 2 passes in the way.
 
Looks like a good portion of the park has been consumed per the current cal fire map; the usual camp site, maintenance yard, and visitor center are still intact. In agreement; burns are needed in this state and others to manage the epidemic. Smoked out down here for the better part of the last 3 months; the new norm.
 
That is a good article and a great image. However where I live you would never be able to get a permit to clear further than 30' from the structure. Even when Cal Fire made an inspection and told the homeowners to clear away from the house the County stepped in ordered the project to cease. An appeal takes 1-2 years and is very costly and will likely be declined. There is a case in south county where a new homeowner removed a large poison oak patch for the safety of his family, A neighbor complained to the County and the result was the homeowner had to purchase poison oak and replant the patch. (This is why never comes here to visit).

Now all of that happened before the CZU Lightning Complex of 8/16/20. Our little county lost nearly 1,000 single family residences! The lawyers are circling the county looking for fire victims so the law suits against Cal Fire can begin. (Same goes for suits against the insurance companies). The County is "steamlining" the permit process for those rebuilding, going so far as the wave some permit fees for formerly permitted structures. Any non-permitted structures require the normal $75k-$125k fees up front. The money buys you a rubber stamp.

I think the County will attempt to blame the residents for the loss of their homes, many of which are at fault. All of the little illegal weed farms burned and because the farmers want to be screened from the eyes of law enforcement and weed thieves and so did no vegetation management. Too bad for them. Only time will tell what's next.
 
DSC01410.JPG
Took this while on a bike ride today. That hillside, and a lot of acreage beyond it, and on and on was burned in the Cold Springs Fire which is the one that started up here and burned to the Columbia River, jumped the river and took off into brush mixed with wheat stubble lands. I've tried several times and I can't get the hillside to photograph as black as it is. It did jump the highway in a few places.
 
Well the Creek fire she done FINALLY! Mother nature brought in icy firefighting foam from the sky today and last night to cover the entire fire from 5 to 20 inches.
 
A lot of fires have wrapped up in the last few weeks thanks to mother natures fire blanket. Been seeing lots of equipment being hauled out of the mountains.
 
A lot of fires have wrapped up in the last few weeks thanks to mother natures fire blanket. Been seeing lots of equipment being hauled out of the mountains.

We've seen the equipment at the base camp change from fire engines and crews to excavators, dozers, and safety guys. Lots of fire line repair to get done.
 
We've seen the equipment at the base camp change from fire engines and crews to excavators, dozers, and safety guys. Lots of fire line repair to get done.

Yeah, the cleanup and getting the hiways safe again is a bigger job in some ways. My brother has been driving dump truck every day for the last month, hauling rocks, stumps and logs that are too big for the chippers. On the stretch of road he's working on they figure at least another month before it reopens.
 
Me and my neighbors are still waiting on getting the brush piles removed from our properties but got a phone number from a friend with the forest service that put me in touch with our local battalion chief, my friend is a tad upset with this guy because he was supposed to look at a few areas over the last couple weeks but didn't. He met with me this afternoon and discussed burning or chipping I said I'm fine with either just as long as it's gone before the end of the year.
 
Slash burning season here.
View attachment 866089
I'm going to guess and say that's somewhere north of Missoula or maybe up by Plains or Thompson Falls? Just finished burning up piles here on the Lochsa in north-central Idaho ourselves, always a good way to end the season. Most fires are wrapping up, maybe a little bit still in southern california? Sit report shows most of em' close to full containment. Cameron Peak fire in northern Colorado might still have a little bit of heat left, still has 3 crews and 10 engines on it. I took a type 6 engine up there at the end of September through early October and it cranked a few times. Snowed on us twice, melted off and dried back out then took off again. That was the norm with that fire for awhile there, some impressive winds that come through that area. Actually we might be sending an engine down to southern California soon and rotating folks out every 14 days for a few cycles, might happen pretty soon too!20200926_132031.jpg
 
I'm going to guess and say that's somewhere north of Missoula or maybe up by Plains or Thompson Falls? Just finished burning up piles here on the Lochsa in north-central Idaho ourselves, always a good way to end the season. Most fires are wrapping up, maybe a little bit still in southern california? Sit report shows most of em' close to full containment. Cameron Peak fire in northern Colorado might still have a little bit of heat left, still has 3 crews and 10 engines on it. I took a type 6 engine up there at the end of September through early October and it cranked a few times. Snowed on us twice, melted off and dried back out then took off again. That was the norm with that fire for awhile there, some impressive winds that come through that area. Actually we might be sending an engine down to southern California soon and rotating folks out every 14 days for a few cycles, might happen pretty soon too!View attachment 871533
Pretty close. Just west of Kalispell.
 
Back
Top