What a Burn

Larry invited my mother, Bill and I to enjoy and assist with a small private-land burn in Johnson County, MO. The fireline was cleared, and fire was dropped by 10. Prescribed winds increased and humidity levels dropped and WHAT A BURN! The thing was textbook and a real pleasure to witness..
Mr. Rizzo dropped the beginning of a backfire on the Southwest corner of our ~15 acre burn area. The first minutes were fast and intense while the fire spread swiftly up towards an open ridge- propelled by an unexpected wind-tunnel from the large lake that was the western border of the area.

We had already kicked through the leaf-litter in search of any wildlife that might be threatened by our activity: Box turtles and the Red bat were of the most importance. After my exciting red-bat encounter on the fireline earlier in the day, Rizzo cited a recent Northern-Arkansas study which found that the bats may hibernate in the leaf-litter and be endangered by the fire. He found it surprising that the bat was as far north as we were and thought that my sighting was significant enough to report to the experts that he knows. We found nothing to protect from the coming fire.

From Texas Parks and Wildlife:

"Threats and Reasons for Decline:
Given recent discoveries of red bats hibernating in grass and leaf litter, it is likely that some die as a result of controlled burning in winter, especially in deciduous forests."

Cool, huh!? The growing fire sent its smoke towards the sky- we were fortunate to have the warm, cloudless day to burn- such conditions usually result in good lift for the smoke, so that we aren't smoking-out neighboring properties. The wind blew the columns of colourful smoke back over the ridge to shade us from the sun and cast a beautiful and surreal orange glow through the smoke and trees where we stood. Bill and Mom continued to create the backfire further down the line- away from the lake. I was called ahead after the hill had about 30 feet of black on in- My job was to spot developing hazards and put out the smaller fires that creeped on the line. (and take too many photos)

With the steady winds and growing black creating a sense of security and giving us a bit more time to sit back and enjoy, I spent a few dozen exposures on the unfolding scenes. It was obvious that we were in for a beautiful burn!

We neared the end of the backfire and I was asked to walk back to the lake and make sure that everything was in good order. It all appeared fine- no smoke on the wrong side, or flaming trees- until I got down to the water where a towering dead trunk had burned to a few feet up.

I jogged back to report and returned to the tree to kill it with a back-pack sprayer. Living trees had only a few inches of darkened bark at the base, and could not burn. Our leaf-litter fuel was new enough to create the awesome smoke! I caught up with the others, who waited for me so we could begin flanking the property with flames that promised to be a bit more exciting than what continued to creep over the ridge. I reported 60 to 80 feet of black and I relocated the extra torch-fuel and water-pack further up the line while the burnt section of our fireline was triple-checked.

We were ready to get started. Bill and I were positioned on the Northwest corner to light a wind-driven headfire as Mom and Larry turned north to light the flames that would burn towards the lake to (theoretically) meet with the back- and head-fires and safely burn the last of the unburned.

On the Northern line, the wind was to our backs and drove the smoke away and into the forest. It all made for some very cool lighting-effects for my photos, mixing orange smoke, black trees, white linings and blue sky. Bill held at the lines' bend for me to control the grassy lake-side corner, and as he continued to light the flank-fire that would meet with larry's I checked the head-fire line and wondered into the black where things burned and smoldered all around me.

I followed on the burning edge of the headfire- picture-happy as ever- until I spotted Bill and my mom well into the charcoaled-zone themselves. You could stand in a spot for less than a few seconds and be presented with nearly unlimited changing photo-opportunities. Winds change to create a sunlight-spectacle of billowing oranges, browns, whites and blacks, letting white light in where the different shades of smoke were not, and boiling the colour against that brilliant blue. I knelt to see the infinite billowing smoke columns cross the lens of the camera and all sensations of a cool breeze, warm sun and crisp air were turned a bit more hellacious.

Where topography brought different sections of fire together, and suffocated small burning areas of oxygen and rising air, little vortexes spawned and spun with black debris and thick smoke. Each whipped through the hot-spots until they collapsed in cooler, more stable conditions. I turned my bandanna in to a neck guard after the first one spun into me and sizzled the hairs on my face and neck. The burn seemed to be going perfectly when I spotted Larry- with a big smile on his face!

Sure he may have had some good, black ash on his teeth, but he was thrilled! He shared some stories as we walked across our achievement. Previous burns, of which I have attended two on the property, have rarely been as successful... The unburned land was reduced to only a few hundred square yards and he got off on some unrelated observations about raccoons as we skipped over a poop-less log on a burned trench.

The fire smoldered itself out as the small ring consumed the last few feet of fuel in a lovely anti-climax and left the four of us standing together and smokey. Larry started back to finalize our burn with a final examination of the property and fireline- I grabbed a sharp window-scraper from the car to retrieve the giant Bearded-Tooth Mushrooms that I'd spotted growing unusually high on a dead tree. The unmistakable things, nicknamed hedgehog mushrooms for a good reason, are supposed to be good edibles, though have only eaten them once. I gave bill his choice- the Giant one or the huge one- he chose the smaller to take home and try himself. Several Minutes passed and Larry didnt show.

Bill became worried and wondered if we should go back into the fire to assist with whatever had complicated his short line-check. I grabbed the water-pack again- Bill had the rakes and we walked swiftly down the line. It was on that silly southeastern bend- near where Larry had began the flank- that we found him struggling with a trio of burning logs. He was happy to receive the help, though the logs were in the black and not an emergency- The three of us broke the things apart as best we could and I emptied that heavy pack.... What a burn!