Fire On The Mountain

MarkV · Mar 14, 2001

Thought some of you might enjoy part of my adventure these past few days. We have 14 acers in the N Georgia mountains where we are working on the never ending weekend house. Our place has about a 400' drop in 380', so steep is the main feature of the property. A neighbors house burned to the ground and set the mountain on fire in a big way. The forest service said about 250 acers were involved. Our poor neighbors lost everyting, but no one was hurt. The forest is all hardwoods and the leaf cover is pretty thick with a good breeze coming off the valley most of the time. That combination, this time of year, sends a fire up the moutain at an amazing speed. Local fire departments were on hand to protect the 4 or 5 other houses in the area and the forest service got the job of controlling the fire in the woods. They had a plane to overview everything, brought in 3 dozers to cut fire breaks and a bunch of guys to hump those hills with rakes making fire breaks. My upper property line is an old logging road (200' above the house) that the dozers used to cut there main fire break. After about 8 hours of work things seemed to be under control. I stayed up late to keep an eye on things and checked again around 3 a.m. just to be sure. About 5:30 a.m. I walked out on the deck to see the fire had started up again above my place and had jumped the fire break. Now, my first reaction went something like "Oh @#$$%%^". So as not to leave the wrong impression, this was mostly leaves, burning down hill and not moving to fast. Back comes the fire departments, didn't mind those two tanker trucks in my parking area at all, and the forest service dozer.

I know I am getting a bit long winded, but the forest service dozer is what I thought you'll would enjoy. They were running a JD 480, 6 way blade, full cage, and a fire break plow on the back. About 15' behind the house I have a tractor trail I have been working on when I need a tractor fix. They used this to make a fire line and back fired up the hill to kill the fire. The amazing part was the dozer operator that came down from above to cut a break on the side of the fire. After coming down this 45 degee slope he gets to the the 12' vertical cut that is the edge of my parking area. I swear, this guy comes over this edge and that dozer is vertical with the front blade planted flat on my parking area. The rear half of his tracks came a good foot and a half off the side of the hill when he hit bottom and I thought for sure he was going over. When the dozer stops moving and I start breathing agian, this guy uses the front blade to wiggle himself down the drop and the plow to keep from falling side ways. Wish I had a camera, still can't believe it. Messed up my parking area but I have no complaints. My hat is sure off to the Georgia Forest Service. When I talked to the dozer operator he acted like it was no big deal. His only response was "I must have been all prayed up today."

MarkV

Thomas · Mar 14, 2001

Sorry to read about your friend losing everything.
I would have been on pins and needles around the clock w/that fire burning than flaring up again.

By the sounds that dozer operator was some good!!
Sure wish you had snap couple of pictures..would have been interesting to see.

Looks like you need a relaxing weekend Mark..yikes.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

cowboydoc · Mar 15, 2001

Mark,
I used to be one of those guys that humped the hills making fire breaks. In the summer when I was in high school and college I was on a Bureau of Land Management Hotshot Crew. It worked out well with working at home on the ranch because you were basically on call all the time. The only time you went out was when there was a fire. If we were really busy at home I passed and if it was slow I'd go out and fight fires. Back then I thought it was great. Basically fought fires 24 hours a day, slept on the mountain, it was fun back then. Can't imagine doing it today. Once a week or less if the fire was bad we'd get to go to a base camp for a shower and hot meal. Money was great though. You'd get paid for every hour you weren't in base camp. In a week if we were out on the line the whole time you'd get paid for 24 hours a day.

RobertN · Mar 15, 2001

Think about fire season now!

It is getting close to that time of year to think about these things. As you prepare for spring chores, keep in mind what is required to keep your house safe if there is a wildfire. Most Fire Departments, BLM, and Forest Service have fliers explaining how to prepare. Here's just a couple notes from what I've seen:

Maintain access - Remember, in a emergency there will be large engines coming up your drive. Just because your pickup clears the trees and curves, DOES NOT mean a fire engine will clear. Keep this in mind for medical emergencies too; Ambulances are bigger than your car. If we can not get to you, it's really hard to help you!

Maintain a defensible space - Keep brush and dry materials away from your house. They used to recomend 30' clearance; now it is advised to keep AT LEAST 60' clearance.

Keep flammables away from the house - Trim your trees away from your roof. Keep firewood AWAY from the house; no use letting it be the kindling that helps burn the house down. Keep fences in mind; does that dry wood fence attach to the house? Keep an eye on your wooden deck; is it clear of debri that might start it on fire?

Escaped burn piles - Keep a defensible clear space around your burn piles. It's a shame when they get out of control and the flames make a run for your house...

That's the two biggest things I've seen in my two short years with a FD. Our engines and water tankers are BIG trucks. We always have large limbs banging into them, knocking equipment, because people maintain a driveway for a Subaru. Take a look at your local Fire Dept, and ask yourself if you could easily get those trucks to your house.

That defensive area is really important too. If there is no safe defensible area for us to get to, we may pass by to save a house that is defensible. It's a tough choice for the Captian, but sometime it has to be done.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

RobS · Mar 15, 2001

Re: Think about fire season now!

Excellent advice RobertN! I'll definitely use your input as I plan and install my drive this summer. Thanks /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobertN · Mar 15, 2001

Re: Think about fire season now!

Just to give you a idea, would three of these easily fit in your driveay, and be able to access?

This is one of our engines, pumping on a wildland fire last year.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

MarkV · Mar 16, 2001

Re: Think about fire season now!

RobertN, Great advice and thanks for sharing your expertice. After seeing a number of fires on the mountain, we had already cleared an area around the house of leaves and such. After last week I think we will clear a larger area./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif At one point we had 3 forest service trucks with dozers, 3 tanker trucks, about a dozen smaller trucks and SUV's jambed on our road. There were 5 or 6 more big units on the main road as well as many smaller trucks. It was a real show when someone had to get out.

Richard, from what I saw, that fire fighting in the mountains is a young mans game./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

cowboydoc · Mar 16, 2001

Re: Think about fire season now!

You bet Mark!!! No way I'd go out there and do that stuff now unless I had to!

Hillbilly · Jul 13, 2001

Makes me think of a true story here in my homestate of WV I read in a book,a fire dept.in a small mountain town ,recieved a call about someones house on fire,you could see the glow off on the mountain.The fire dept responded and when they got to the reported house there was no fire,but they could see the glow on the next mountain and they proceeded over to the next home and when they got there,well no fire again!!!!!!They finally figured out there were looking at the northern lights.

StoneHeartFarm · Jul 15, 2001

MarkV

I feel for ya. We had a forest fire here about 4 years ago. Aimed right for us. I had no idea it was coming until my wife drove through the police blockade to fetch me out. While we were busy loading the car and truck with stuff from the house, a Deputy pulled up in the drive, screamed "you gotta get outta here right now!" and tore off. I'd been evacuated. Several people about 1/4 mile south of here lost homes and the fire kept trying to jump ahead a 1/2 mile or so, keeping everyone on their toes knocking down the spot flare ups. The only thing that saved us is the river. The fire stopped when it hit the river and couldn't get a foothold on the other side because of all the fire departments pumping water on stuff. It was an interesting afternoon.

SHF