Prescribed Fire

[Parkerson Cattle Co.]

Jogeephus, healthy looking woods, obviously well managed, keep up the good work.

 

[Jogeephus]

Brute, I agree completely. I take fire very seriously. Been burning for over 25 years and have had three mishaps so far. Nothing too serious but serious enough for me. You got to be careful and you got to know what you are doing. But if you do burn, one day it will get you as well as it will get me again. I just hope that when this day comes, some scum bag lawyer won't be waiting to test my insurance.

Fire is sneaky as a snake. You can't assume anything and you got to take your time and use stategy. Too many people assume a firebreak will stop a fire. It won't. You go to use the firebreak as a starting point and work from this. What can't be seen in the pictures is my back and flank fires which I allowed to burn along some hazard areas for two hours. Once I had two hundred yards of black, I let the head fire go since the story was already written. Once I did this, I burned roughly 100 acres per hour but it was completely under control. You can see there is no aerial fuels to speak of and most of the fuel was light litter. My objective with this fire was to clean the woods as I had already reduced the fuel load over the last three years with fires on high humidity days. I guess you could say I have worked four years for this one day and it was a textbook burn. My plans are to come back next year and use growing season burns to get the wiregrass to bear fertile seeds and replenish the understory in the manner nature intended.

 

[Brute 23]

It is becoming more of a factor. With places being divided up and such, most of us have more neighbors now than 5 years ago and they are still coming. The risk is increasing. :|

 

[Jogeephus]

Smoke used to just be a nuisance now its a major concern. Too many Mario Andrette's on the highways that don't know how to deal with the smoke. An inversion coupled with some fog and you could have a disaster on your hands. Thank goodness we have fairly decent forecasts but there is always that chance the prediction will be wrong.

 

[ga. prime]

Good work, Jo. Real good work.

 

[J. T.]

Prescribed burns are a best management practice and should be done to improve wildlife habitat, control unwanted vegetation, and keep the fuel reserves limited. If prescribed burns had been allowed in Yellowstone, the catastrophic fire of 1988 very likely would not have occurred.
I like your pics, Jo!

 

[usernametaken]

I live in a fire ecosystem and I am definitely pro burn. I burn on a regular basis and will burn several hundred acres each year. Nature hates a vaccum. If you don't burn it, she will. Here, we try to mimic nature in so much as possible to enhance wildlife habitat and keep the woods clean. Without fire, we would not have the quail or turkey populations we so much enjoy. The judicious use of fire is the cheapest and most efficient tool we have for accomplishing many objectives.

Ok - here are the dumb questions. Jogee - what is a fire ecosytem ? How to you learn to burn responsibly and what equipment do you need for control ?
Thanks,
Melissa
Usernametaken

 

[Jogeephus]

A fire ecosystem is an ecosystem where - before man decided to put every fire out - fires would burn through the woods on a regular basis. Conifers are by nature fire resistant as is proof by their bark. If you look at a pine tree's bark, you will notice it is similar to pages of a book and if you've ever tried to burn a book you will find you can't. Recent studies have shown that one of the best understory plants in our area - wiregrass - will not bear fertile seed unless it is burned using a growing season burn which just also happens to be at the beginning of our lightning season. Additonally, some studies also showed that the decline in the redwoods also was correlated to the removal of fire from its ecosystem. Apparantly the lack of burning did not allow for the natural siltation that accompanies the erosion once the duff was burned off. Another good example is longleaf pine. Longleaf will lay dormant in the grass stage for years until fire - or some other disturbance - sweeps through its environment then it will begin its height growth. The irony of it all is that you have one part of society wanting each and every fire exstinguished while at the same time they want to save the longleaf wiregrass ecosystem. You can't have one without the other, in a since they are protecting these environments to death.

The best place to learn how to use fire properly is through the USFS or your local forestry department. I imagine they have courses. But nothing beats learning by doing if your teacher will explain what they are thinking and why. As for tools, a harrowed fireline, a good weather report, an understanding of fuel moisture and humidity and a drip torch is all you really need. A cell phone is not a bad idea either in case things go awry. With some steady wind and an understanding of fire, odds are in your favor that things will work just fine.

 

[usernametaken]

A fire ecosystem is an ecosystem where - before man decided to put every fire out - fires would burn through the woods on a regular basis. Conifers are by nature fire resistant as is proof by their bark. If you look at a pine tree's bark, you will notice it is similar to pages of a book and if you've ever tried to burn a book you will find you can't. Recent studies have shown that one of the best understory plants in our area - wiregrass - will not bear fertile seed unless it is burned using a growing season burn which just also happens to be at the beginning of our lightning season. Additonally, some studies also showed that the decline in the redwoods also was correlated to the removal of fire from its ecosystem. Apparantly the lack of burning did not allow for the natural siltation that accompanies the erosion once the duff was burned off. Another good example is longleaf pine. Longleaf will lay dormant in the grass stage for years until fire - or some other disturbance - sweeps through its environment then it will begin its height growth. The irony of it all is that you have one part of society wanting each and every fire exstinguished while at the same time they want to save the longleaf wiregrass ecosystem. You can't have one without the other, in a since they are protecting these environments to death.

Thanks for the details. I am on east side of w ky - southern area and probably fit a burn environment although I've not heard of wire grass - it's probably there I just don't know it. This was the Cherokee/Chickasaw/Shawnee hunting grounds of old days complete with buffalo. Wonder if it would be a worthwhile idea to see if the volunteer fire department would like to do a prescribed burn with me for a training/practice exercise ??

Melissa

Melissa

The best place to learn how to use fire properly is through the USFS or your local forestry department. I imagine they have courses. But nothing beats learning by doing if your teacher will explain what they are thinking and why. As for tools, a harrowed fireline, a good weather report, an understanding of fuel moisture and humidity and a drip torch is all you really need. A cell phone is not a bad idea either in case things go awry. With some steady wind and an understanding of fire, odds are in your favor that things will work just fine.

 

[Jogeephus]

Username, I met some of your forestry firefighters this summer when they came down to help us out. These were some good knowledgeable folks. I would start with them first. If they happened to remember having catfish cooked for them by a dumb redneck, then they might remember me. And tell them thanks for the help.

 

[Parkerson Cattle Co.]

Had a burn on Sunday, pretty sight. 136 acres in ten minutes up in flames. Small job but a lot of fun. It was pretty cool to watch, had a large smoke column fall over pretty good, and when we got back to Lubbock, you could see the smoke from town. If the weather cooperates, 300 more acres this week hopefully.

 

[Jogeephus]

When you ring a field it can put up some amazngly high smoke plumes. Sometimes they look like Hiroshima from a distance. :lol2:

 

[usernametaken]

Username, I met some of your forestry firefighters this summer when they came down to help us out. These were some good knowledgeable folks. I would start with them first. If they happened to remember having catfish cooked for them by a dumb redneck, then they might remember me. And tell them thanks for the help.

Hey, I would have come with them if I knew you were cooking catfish ! I will tell them you gave them high praise, if I find the right people.

Ok - I'll check the forestry folks out. One of my kid's teachers is married to a Forest Ranger who works at Land Between the Lakes. The kids all call him the tree hugger ( instigated by his wife, the teacher) and that is what he hates to be called. Tree hugger can probably send me in the right direction.

Thanks for the information. :wave:

username

 

[Parkerson Cattle Co.]

Ringing it is basically what we did, we lit an X starting at the center of the field, had four wheelers going with the wind, and on foot going into the wind all going to separate corners, then completely enclosing once the corners were reached. We had some 20-30 foot flames it was cool, but not quite the effect I was hoping for. Experimentation at its finest... I'm pretty sure by putting in the X we ultimately took some of the power out of the ring, could have been more interesting. No fire whirls.

 

[MikeC]

We disk around a field, tie an old tire to the back of the mule, set it on fire and take off.

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm pretty sure by putting in the X we ultimately took some of the power out of the ring, could have been more interesting. No fire whirls.

A few years ago we hired a buy with a helicopter to drop fire around the perimeter of a land lot - roughly 490 acres - that had been clearcut. He lit the perimeter in under 10 minutes and the fuel consisted of chopped dry fuel. In about 30 minutes I was wondering if I had made a mistake as a 15-20 mile/hour wind had been created and the fire grew in intensity and height. Eventually we had a fire devil in the center which was at least 300 feet tall and I got to say I was growing more and more concerned. In about 30 minutes it was over. Looked like somebody set off a bomb. It smoked for days though but it made for some good tree planting.

Username, I imagine calling him a "tree hugger" would T off any self respecting forester. :lol: Next time you rag him, try calling him a "florister", that should get his goat as well. Speaking of LBL, my aunt lives across from it on the lake. Lake Murray? I'm not sure since its been years since I was there. They took me to see the geese and ducks on the preserve. It was amazing.

 

[TexasBred]

Amazing how a fire seems to create wind and the heartbeat and blood pressure suddenly go thru the roof in spite of the best layed plans.

 

[Parkerson Cattle Co.]

Large enough fires can bring down wind from higher up, I know Sunday, when we started we had 4-6 mph winds, and as soon as it was going good we brought up the wind speed in that location to 12mph. Fire has a strange vacuum effect at times. When you have fire in a ring, it pulls itself together, which leads to potential fire whirls, which can be dangerous.