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The heat is on
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| U.S. Forest Ranger Paul Varnedoe stands next to a fallen tree that caught on fire from hot embers. With the right weather conditions, fuel sources can reignite from underground even months after being put out. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
U.S. Forest Service crews work on smoldering hot spots
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
Ash fell from the sky and long streams of white smoke ascended skyward from stumps and trees in the Osceola National Forest Friday as high winds and dropping humidity levels fanned smoldering remains from a month-old prescribed burn.
The remains are part of the Russian Bend Fire, a U.S. Forest Service prescribed forest fire, which has burned approximately 550 acres of hot spots over a 5,000-acre plot in the Columbia County portion of the Osceola National Forest. The hot spots are 45 percent contained. The hot spots, within forestry service plowlines, are not active fires, but have become a source of concern because of the possibility of igniting a wildfire as well as the smoke hazards it could present for Interstate 10 drivers.
“We don’t have an ongoing, raging wildfire,” said Osceola National Forest District ranger Ivan Green. “We just have a few hot spots in a 5,000-acre complex.”
U.S. Forest Service Rangers attacked the smoldering areas Friday with chain saws, axes, picks and other hand tools as they attempted to eliminate the hot spots.
Green said the agency wanted to bring in a helicopter and ground crews to address the hot spots, but Friday’s ovrecast and rainy weather didn’t permit the use of helicopters.
However, ground crews did manage to get into the area and work on some of the troubled areas. The Jackson Hot Shots, a ground crew which utilizes hand tools, is expected to help extinguish the hot spots.
Property for the Russian Bend prescribed fire was initially burned April 10 when U.S. Forest Service crews attempted to reduce some of the fuels in that portion of the Osceola National Forest. The hot spots threatened to ignite flammable fuels in the Oakhead Compartment area of the forest, an area which burned years ago as part of a wildfire.
“Usually, we would be in our rainy season and we’d be getting rain right now, so you wouldn’t have these types of things going on,” Green said. “The combination of drought and these extreme winds drying-out the old prescribed burns is just enough to cause these concerns.”
He said many of the hot spots were underground and the area needed lots of water to eliminate the troubled areas.
“It’s just hard for people to believe that a wildfire, a prescribed burn that was burned in April that’s had extreme drying, can come back out and actually burn a month or two months later,” Green said.
He said U.S. Forest Service crews will be monitoring the area for the next few weeks to make sure the hot spots are extinguished.
The remains are part of the Russian Bend Fire, a U.S. Forest Service prescribed forest fire, which has burned approximately 550 acres of hot spots over a 5,000-acre plot in the Columbia County portion of the Osceola National Forest. The hot spots are 45 percent contained. The hot spots, within forestry service plowlines, are not active fires, but have become a source of concern because of the possibility of igniting a wildfire as well as the smoke hazards it could present for Interstate 10 drivers.
“We don’t have an ongoing, raging wildfire,” said Osceola National Forest District ranger Ivan Green. “We just have a few hot spots in a 5,000-acre complex.”
U.S. Forest Service Rangers attacked the smoldering areas Friday with chain saws, axes, picks and other hand tools as they attempted to eliminate the hot spots.
Green said the agency wanted to bring in a helicopter and ground crews to address the hot spots, but Friday’s ovrecast and rainy weather didn’t permit the use of helicopters.
However, ground crews did manage to get into the area and work on some of the troubled areas. The Jackson Hot Shots, a ground crew which utilizes hand tools, is expected to help extinguish the hot spots.
Property for the Russian Bend prescribed fire was initially burned April 10 when U.S. Forest Service crews attempted to reduce some of the fuels in that portion of the Osceola National Forest. The hot spots threatened to ignite flammable fuels in the Oakhead Compartment area of the forest, an area which burned years ago as part of a wildfire.
“Usually, we would be in our rainy season and we’d be getting rain right now, so you wouldn’t have these types of things going on,” Green said. “The combination of drought and these extreme winds drying-out the old prescribed burns is just enough to cause these concerns.”
He said many of the hot spots were underground and the area needed lots of water to eliminate the troubled areas.
“It’s just hard for people to believe that a wildfire, a prescribed burn that was burned in April that’s had extreme drying, can come back out and actually burn a month or two months later,” Green said.
He said U.S. Forest Service crews will be monitoring the area for the next few weeks to make sure the hot spots are extinguished.
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