Colorado Wildfire Stopped Dead In Tracks By Controlled Burn Set Last Year

Tampa Tribune ^

[Retired Chemist]

DECKERS, Colo. - It was not an easy sell when the Forest Service came to people living among the crowded trees of the Rockies last summer and said it wanted to set the woods on fire.

What the foresters had in mind was not just a little burn, but a big blaze, 8,000 acres of national forest land bordering some very expensive new houses.

Homeowners in the area were incensed.

Suburban communities said that the smoke would hurt people's health.

And Colorado politicians tried to stop it and other planned fires, citing fears that the flames might get out of control.

But last week, the biggest wildfire in Colorado history dropped dead in its tracks when it met the boundary of the fire that was set deliberately by the Forest Service last year.

[TroutStalker]

The Hayman fire is out? This is the first I heard about it.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Now if they could just stop all the smoke from what is still burning.

[11th Earl of Mar]

DECKERS, Colo. - It was not an easy sell when the Forest Service came to people living among the crowded trees of the Rockies last summer and said it wanted to set the woods on fire.

What the foresters had in mind was not just a little burn, but a big blaze, 8,000 acres of national forest land bordering some very expensive new houses.

Homeowners in the area were incensed.

Suburban communities said that the smoke would hurt people's health.

And Colorado politicians tried to stop it and other planned fires, citing fears that the flames might get out of control.

But last week, the biggest wildfire in Colorado history dropped dead in its tracks when it met the boundary of the fire that was set deliberately by the Forest Service last year.

``That would scare anyone to death when the government says, `I'm here to burn down the forest, trust me,' '' said Bob Foster, owner of Lost Valley Guest Ranch near here, surrounded by Pike National Forest.

``I have a little different take on it now,'' Foster said.

He credits the controlled burn of last year with helping to save his ranch from the Hayman fire.

However, convincing people in the West that the only way to save the forest around them is to let the government burn it is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Forest Service as it tries to reverse a century-old policy of fighting every fire.

But this summer's blazes show that those controlled burns can be crucial in fire prevention.

The Polhemus burn, which had edged up to this little town on the South Platte River, about 50 miles from Denver, is an example of a controlled burn that worked, the Forest Service said.

It is likely that the blaze saved hundreds of homes this month.

Even the firefighters were taken by surprise at its effectiveness that the controlled burn had in stopping the Hayman fire, which had consumed 137,000 acres and had destroyed 133 homes.

Officials said on Friday that the fire was nearly 100 percent contained.

``The fire was racing through here with great intensity, but when it hit this controlled burn area, it just laid down and died,'' said Buck Nelson, who is a supervisor of smoke jumpers, a specialized group of firefighters who parachute into remote, mountainous areas.

But had that fire jumped a ridge to the east, it could have hit thousands of homes that lie in the sprawl between Colorado Springs and Denver.

Still, in the coming fall, when the Forest Service tries to resume burns, it expects that there will be opposition again as memory the Hayman fire fades.

``It's not like there's been an overwhelming change of heart,'' said Alan Barbian of the Forest Service.

---

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[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Good news ping. (^:

[RobFromGa]

bttt

[marsh2]

In our region of N. CA., there is a history of controlled burns that got out of hand. One, that I know of. actually burned homes down.

The local USFS is now using a multi-staged process that includes thinning and then machine shredding or "mastication" instead of controlled burns.

Local forests are way to dense and full of dead trees to control burn. The Air Quality people have a hissy fit against doing a burn in the spring and in the late fall when they want them done, all the seasonal crews have gone and there is no personnel to control burn.

[trussell]

BTTT, Great News.

[trussell]

Ping

[brityank]

However, convincing people in the West that the only way to save the forest around them is to let the government burn it is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Forest Service as it tries to reverse a century-old policy of fighting every fire.

Great news; but -- in light of the tremendous fuel-load that the feds have allowed to accumulate, and their lack of responsibility, I would find it hard to allow them free rein to burn whatever they want.

Ping.

[r9etb]

The Hayman fire is out?

It's not out (there was a fairly heavy smoky haze here in CO Spgs today), but it is mostly contained -- their projected date for 100% containment was today.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

bumPing

[backhoe]

Thanks for indexing- I'm including this in the next mass email to letters to editors and commentators. Let's see if I have any banners handy:

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[r9etb]

Just to put things in perspective, however:

That controlled burn was 8,000 acres.

The size of the fire itself was 137,000 acres, and the Pike National Forest is 1 million acres. And that's just one of the national forests in Colorado, and of course there are big national forests in other states, too, comprising about 191 million acres.

It will take a lot of time, manpower, and money to make a real dent in the fuel loading problem in just that one forest.

I suppose a 20-year program, employing several thousand workers, could do it. But the forest fire problem is likely here for quite a long time yet.

And it's not like forest fires never happened before -- they did, and big ones, too. Shrubs and lower-story growth have always cropped up in forests. So I think a lot of this "poor forest management causes big fires" stuff is part of the same mindset that blames human activity for every other alleged environmental problem.

[blackie]

Stop the attacks by the wacko, extreme left-wing, enviro-nazis terrorist's on our Freedoms !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[TroutStalker]

Thanks for the confirmation. This is good news.

My son lives in Colorado Springs, but I haven't talked with him since the middle of the week. For Father's Day he gave me the book Fly Fishing the South Platte River. I have fished it a number of times in the last couple of years, but I suppose it is going to be severly affected as a result of the fire and subsequent runoff when rains return.

[SuziQ]

I saw this article in the NY TImes online today. Good news and a slap in the face to environmentalists who don't want any logging or removal of dead wood or undergrowth in the fire-sensitive areas.

[tubebender]

"In our region of N. CA., there is a history of controlled burns that got out of hand. One, that I know of. actually burned homes down. "

You must be talking about the one at Lewiston below Trinity dam. The Forest service had a real PR problem with that one.

"

[LiteKeeper]

Most of thae smoke we are getting here in Colorado Springs is from the Durango and Arizona fires, not the Haymen fire.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!