EVACUATION

– BY AVALANCHE –

STACI AND I WERE ENJOYING A NICE

BBQ LUNCH on a campground restaurant patio, when we heard some raised voices nearby. We looked over to see what was going on, and the voices became more frantic, and then flames became visible, with a smoke plume rising quickly toward the sky. Within just a minute or two, flames raced up the far side of a pine tree, topping out in the crown of the 70-foottall tree.

The campground owner came running back from the flames and said to the lunch crowd, “Everyone needs to get out of here,” then moved quickly over to a dozer parked nearby.

Campground employees quickly grabbed buckets, shovels and chainsaws and headed toward the fire. The owner started up the dozer and headed toward the fire, pushing down trees and building an impromptu fire break. Staci and I and at least one other lunch patron began jogging around the campground, and informed everyone about the fire, and recommended that they leave.

The previously quiet and peaceful campground became a scene of rapid activity, with most of the campers quickly break- ing down and packing up their tents and campers. Staci and I were able to load up our gear on the motorcycle in just a few minutes, and rolled out to the highway about a quarter-mile away. Once there, I parked the bike among many of the other displaced campers, and I decided to head back to the campground to lend assistance.

Things had gone pretty well in the few minutes it took us to notify all the campers and get our stuff out. The dozer operator had been able to cut and push the flaming tree back onto the source of the fire, a smoldering slash pile left from a logging operation. The smoldering pile had been considered a “controlled burn” and a light wind had caused the fire to ignite and catch a tall tree on fire. Quick action by employees and volunteers had the blaze reasonably contained before the fire department got there. Once on scene, fire personnel quickly extinguished the remaining blaze, and most everyone who had evacuated came back to the campground, set up camp again, and stayed overnight.

FAST-FORWARD SEVERAL YEARS…

Recently there was a local homeowner, a very smart and conscientious guy who, after contacting the fire department and following their guidelines on how to do it, had a small controlled burn on his property, Some of the neighbors – including a few who happen to be fire fighters – took exception to this event, given the hot, dry and windy conditions that day. An online discussion went back and forth for a couple days, which seemed to focus on whether or not the burn was legal. As for myself, I didn’t really care about the legal and/or administrative aspect of things. Over the last few years, we’ve had friends who lost their home to a carelessly started fire, and another friend had to be airlifted via helicopter across the state to a trauma center for injuries he received as a volunteer while fighting the same large summertime blaze. All I know is that “controlled burns” usually work fine – until they don’t; and if one is going to be conducted, snow on the ground keeps the consequences limited in scale, while hot dry weather is an invitation to a much larger disaster.