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I'm sure there has been forest fires since the beginning of time , the sad thing is, when they're started by mankind !
Tom Stienstra, S.F. Chronicle…..good read.
It is heartbreaking to see the old, giant pines get incinerated by the Rim Fire in the Tuolumne canyons and on their ridges. You wonder if this can be prevented elsewhere.
The forests around beautiful Cherry Lake and Eleanor Lake in Yosemite are in flames. The beloved Camp Mather and San Francisco’s power and water utilities are under siege. Miles of blackened tree skeletons will be left behind for 20 years and longer. Ash and topsoil will wash into the Tuolumne.
I have explored this region in my truck, on foot, in a raft and the trail-less canyons from the air. Everybody in the area knew it was a time bomb.
When a fire starts in such an explosive landscape, it must be put out right away or it can blow up from a spot fire to an inferno. The DC-10s were late arriving, and in three days the fire grew from 5,000 to 50,000 to more than 100,000 acres.
Environmentalists and fire scientists agree on how to avoid these high-heat infernos that turn into forest massacres, while keeping the forest landscape and habitat fresh and healthy at the same time.
A key is addressing “ground fuels” and “ladder fuels.” The Tuolumne canyons, for instance, are filled with ground-level manzanita, chemise and layers of dry pine needles. When they ignite, they burn fast and hot, and can catch low-lying limbs of pine trees.
If you burn out the ground fuel in low-heat prescribed fires, you remove much of the tinder for big fires and keep the soil fresh and charged with nitrogen.
You also trim the lower limbs of pine trees, up to eight feet above the ground, and thin out tightly-packed groves of smaller trees. That way a ground fire won’t spread “up the ladder” and get into the tree canopies – and in a worst-case scenario, start “crowning,” jumping from treetop to treetop.
What we’re seeing now is a worst-case scenario. An area many love for recreation, wildlife and the source of drinking water and electricity is a war zone. We are losing the war.
Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicle‘s outdoors writer. E-mail:tstienstra@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @StienstraTom
Quote:Be safe Chris Westlye, and all you other firefighters. Anybody still feel the fire fee for the Sierra is not justified?YES….It does not change the fact it is an ILLEGAL tax. This is not about fire prevention or fire fighting resources, it is about a state government that has violated its own laws about taxation. I would gladly pay 10x the fee assessment if I knew the money was well spent and the assessment was legally implemented. The ends do not justify the means when it comes to government. We have laws for a reason….BTW…how much and where have last year's and this year's fire fee $$ been spent????
I did what I thought was a pretty good job of cleaning this year, but I question the value of my work when neighboring undeveloped lots are in bad shape. Also, the house behind me has huge piles of duff hidden behind the house that are pretty close to my house. What to do?
I want to thank everyone for a great job in clean-up this summer. With Joan Lark doing the inspections on vacant lots, and our team doing the cabin lots, I feel that we are as safe as possible against a wild fire.
Every year, we are looking for new volunteers for the cabin lot inspections. It does not take a lot of time, and I can easily show you the key areas to inspect. If you are interested, please send me an email at markdiashyn@yahoo.com. Remember, we all have a vested interest in keeping Big Trees in general and our individual cabins fire safe. Thanks a bunch.
From the LA Times:
GROVELAND, Calif. — Each time the breeze picked up, Lee Bentley of the U.S. Forest Service squinted and took a look at the smoke cloud forming over the Rim fire.Conditions on Sunday were eerily similar to how one of the largest wildfires in recent California history exploded in the first place.
It was first spotted on a ridge in the Stanislaus National Forest on Aug. 17 by a plane flying to another small fire. An air team was called in and dropped water until nightfall.
PHOTOS: Rim fire at Yosemite
"Things looked good. We were feeling we had it pretty much under control," Bentley said.
But the next morning an inversion layer thick as fog kept the planes on the ground.
In the afternoon, the inversion layer lifted and the winds kicked in.
"The fire came boiling out, just cooking," Bentley said. "It was so hot it created its own weather. It was like dropping a boulder in a pond — fire spread out in every direction."
The Rim fire, which has ballooned to nearly 134,000 acres, presents firefighters with every challenge: steep slopes, dry fuel, rugged terrain and entire communities that could be endangered depending on which way the wind blows. Every technique is in use: planes, bulldozers and thousands of firefighters trying to hold the line around summer camps, homes and towns.
On Sunday the winds were coming from the southwest, pushing the fire north towards Tuolumne City near Sonora and away from Groveland where residents returned home and reopened businesses that had been shut for a week during peak tourist season. The streets were decorated with signs thanking the firefighters.
But Bentley said the relief could be premature.
"Everybody in this town has a right to feel nervous," he said. "This fire could always turn, depending on which way the wind blows this afternoon."
More than 2,800 firefighters have been battling the blaze, which is 7% contained.
Quote:Would someone please report on air quality in Big Trees area? Thanks.BAD.
It's very smokey in the morning, clears up pretty much in the afternoon but you can still see/smell smoke.Would someone please report on air quality in Big Trees area? Thanks.
Quote:Quote:You do know the fee does not go to fighting fires right? The money is for fire prevention services.Increased fire prevention is necessary to prevent these large fires, in my opinion. I could never understand why people who choose to live in fire prone areas would resist a fire fee to help prevent fires. We were very glad to pay it.
It's impossible to prevent fires in many areas, like the Darby fire or the Rim Fire. The terrain is so steep no one can access it. So how can they "prevent" forest fires in areas they can't access? Have you been in some of these areas? They are incredibly steep with no access roads. Back in the early 90s my wife and I hiked from our cabin to Sourgrass and back using only a GPS. Several areas we had to slide down on our rear-ends. Getting back was even worse. We made it just before dark. And it's "only" 2.1 miles "as the crow flies."
Quote:Allen – Fire Resources have been and are currently all over this fire. The hills/mtn are steep, the landscape is extremely dry, temps have been high, winds shift and lightening strikes have hard hit the Sierras with fires. There's no conspiracy between Mother Nature and Government Agencies to extend fires and cause humongous expenditures which may result in additional taxation. I'm pretty confident that the citizens of Pine Mtn and Groveland are extremely appreciate of the efforts made to control this disastrous fire.I'm not questioning the firefighters on the ground or the ones in the air. I was only questioning the decisions made by upper management when the fire first started. I've been up here since 1994 and I have a LOT of respect for our firefighters. They all do spectacular jobs fighting fires.
Quote:You do know the fee does not go to fighting fires right? The money is for fire prevention services.Increased fire prevention is necessary to prevent these large fires, in my opinion. I could never understand why people who choose to live in fire prone areas would resist a fire fee to help prevent fires. We were very glad to pay it.
You do know the fee does not go to fighting fires right? The money is for fire prevention services.
Well said and asked!
Be safe Chris Westlye, and all you other firefighters. Anybody still feel the fire fee for the Sierra is not justified?
Here's a photo of a dedicated fire fighter who has been out battling wild land blazes for most of the month and is in route to the Rim Fire. He's tired, growing some whiskers but loves his job. Be Safe Chris (our youngest son)
