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The reports sound encouraging. Depending on how many trees make it, may end up with a healthier forest?
Bear Wallow fire.. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter splitshot
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only a small percentage of the trees got torched. i think the area will be a camping destination sooner than everybody thinks. a little bit of rain and those grasses will come back healthier than ever.
No, you rightlane? We're just a regular ol' Forest Service type 2 crew ragtagged together out of sawyers and engine crew members, but a lot of our members are former Wyoming Hotshots. We were working alongside Shasta Lake and Salmon River, along with a contractor called Firestorm.
I really liked working on the Apache Sitgraves. Beautiful country, healthy forests (and a LOT of elk!), and really kind locals. While I believe fire is a natural and important part of forest ecology, I hope the affected people can get on with their lives soon.
i was on a type 1, spent most of the time in and about tal-wi-wi. got thrown in with bitterroot for a couple of days and actually got to work. did you spike out in the meadow at tal-wi-wi?
Was there much work around Tal-wi-wi? Our first night after arriving we stayed at Luna Lake. The second night worked a 23 hour shift outside of Alpine doing some burn outs, then we got moved with ICP to Springerville. After a few nights there we got bumped back to Luna (which we were told was burned over, but it wasn't) and spent the remainder there.
mostly prepping houses, and setting sprinklers. the crews burned out 3 out of 4 sides of our little valley. we mopped up after with bitterroot. spent a few days driving the highway between alpine divide and tal-wi-wi, parking on the shoulder and deploying lines, then disconnecting, moving a hundred yards and doing it all over again. we spent 1st night at luna lake, next few at springerville, next week at tal-wi-wi, then back to springerville.
splitshot
Head cook, Bottle washer, and Peace keeper.
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My boss's home came through ok. His neighbor said the flames came in low under the trees with minimal crowning. It stopped at the line where the two of them cleared pine needles just a month ago.
On the other hand, both filed insurance claims due to smoke damage.
On the other hand, both filed insurance claims due to smoke damage.
sloanstavern
SILVER Star
A heartfelt thanks to all of you serving, I can not call it working since you are putting your life on the line, to protect the residence and countryside affected by the wallow fire. You are all in our prayers.
I hope we continue to hear that this fire will yield an ultimately healthier forest. Goodness knows we have had decades of fuel building up that had to go somewhere. I speak from experience; we have a lot in Pinedale that got hit by the Rodeo Chedeski fire.
We bought 1/2 an acre in 1999, in Cobble creek, and the first thing I did was go in and cut our at least 100 ponderosa “bean sprouts” 2-4 inches in diameter, and >20 feet tall. Even then the lot was still over populated, I cleared another 40+ trees then reassessed and before I could do more the fire hit. We were lucky we had not built yet, but our neighbors did not fair so well. I remember walking on 6" of ash so fine it was like flour. It seemed so lifeless and sterile
Now it is ten years later, and the forest is looking remarkably good, we are closer to the ~ 30-40 large Pines per acre of a healthy forest and life is returning to normal.
I am not trying to discount the tragedy that residence have experienced, but we have to keep an objective view of forest health, decades of fire suppression have lead to an unhealthy level of fuel that has to go some where. I hope we can learn form this and start a fuel removal program (i.e. selective harvesting) rather than wait for the next horrific fire.
Thanks again for your service, here are some before pictures, and I will post some afters on the next post.
I hope we continue to hear that this fire will yield an ultimately healthier forest. Goodness knows we have had decades of fuel building up that had to go somewhere. I speak from experience; we have a lot in Pinedale that got hit by the Rodeo Chedeski fire.
We bought 1/2 an acre in 1999, in Cobble creek, and the first thing I did was go in and cut our at least 100 ponderosa “bean sprouts” 2-4 inches in diameter, and >20 feet tall. Even then the lot was still over populated, I cleared another 40+ trees then reassessed and before I could do more the fire hit. We were lucky we had not built yet, but our neighbors did not fair so well. I remember walking on 6" of ash so fine it was like flour. It seemed so lifeless and sterile
Now it is ten years later, and the forest is looking remarkably good, we are closer to the ~ 30-40 large Pines per acre of a healthy forest and life is returning to normal.
I am not trying to discount the tragedy that residence have experienced, but we have to keep an objective view of forest health, decades of fire suppression have lead to an unhealthy level of fuel that has to go some where. I hope we can learn form this and start a fuel removal program (i.e. selective harvesting) rather than wait for the next horrific fire.
Thanks again for your service, here are some before pictures, and I will post some afters on the next post.
sloanstavern
SILVER Star
Here are some after pics from last season. The land won't be the same in our lifetime, but it is still a pretty mountain setting.
sloanstavern
SILVER Star
Just curious, has anyone been in the Wallow fire region to assess the damage? I have not seen any photo's coming out of the burnt area yet.
Thanks,
Thanks,
that seems to be a very delicate balance of trust on the part of two sides that so far seems to much to ask. maybe some sort of realistic middle can come between them before all the forest in north america burn down.
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inkpot
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Haven't heard much, even from my nephew that worked patrol up there for a week or so. I did get an update from Az Game and Fish that they are working on how to get John Q Public back into the area to help bolster the economy. Haven't seen any answers yet. John
splitshot
Head cook, Bottle washer, and Peace keeper.
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