NOT ALL FIRE IS BAD
Prescribed burns clear dry brush, trees that could fuel massive blazes
GILA NATIONAL FOREST — As a group of firefighters calmly lit small patches of land on fire and walked through heavy smoke, others stood guard watching a section of the forest burn. “So what we are doing is putting fire back into the ecosystem in controlled amount,” said Ellen Brown, fire prevention specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.
Prescribed burns in the Gila National Forest use fire to fight fire and clear thick, dry underbrush, shrubs and the overgrowth of certain trees that can become fuel for massive blazes.
“We know when we put fire down in certain directions, in certain patterns, we know how that fire is going to behave on the land,” Brown said. “Whereas with a wildfire, we’re already behind the curve, and we’re chasing to get ahead.”
New Mexico and other Western states are bracing for a particularly busy fire season, as dangerously dry conditions, high winds, and rising temperatures turn some forests into tinderboxes.
“You’ve seen the forest in the West for the last 10 years. Big burns are concerns. It’s damaging,” said Randy Lock, who owns the general store in Winston on the edge of the Gila National Forest.
Lock attended a briefing with 100 specially trained Forest Service employees at the Poverty Creek Volunteer Fire Station the morning the prescribed burn started. The Poverty Creek and Winston-Chloride volunteer fire departments hosted the firefighters.
“They realize how critical it is to keep this fire where they want it, as dry as it is and the time of year,” said Lock, whose store served as a “fire information center” in a region where cellphone service is spotty.
The carefully planned and managed prescribed burn in the Gila included 7,800 acres of forestland. The “ignition team” used drip torches and mix of one part gasoline and three parts diesel that burns steady and slow. Crews on foot followed along, watching the flames carefully, “just making sure the fire doesn’t escape this boundary line we’re staged on right now,” said Amy Betcher, one of the Silver City Hot Shots helping with the fire.
Another crew with a water truck stood ready nearby to spring into action if needed.
“We’re holding for the burn,” said Daniel Cooper, a firefighter from Safford, Ariz. His team’s job was to protect the burn boundary and “in this scenario make sure it stays on the correct side of the road.”
The team working on the Black Range Ranger District started south of N.M. 59 near the tiny community of Poverty Creek.
“The weather right now is perfect,” said Marta Call, public affairs officer for the Gila National Forest on the first day of the burn, May 7.
But by the end of that week, conditions had changed.
“These hard-working firefighters held the fire all weekend, despite wind gusts up to 40 mph,” Call said in a news release.
The prescribed burn area was within a quarter of a mile of the Rabenau family’s home and property.
“We recognized the benefit of prescribed burns. We’re for it,” said Lorretta Rabenau, whose family has been ranching in the area for more than 40
years.
Gila National Forest personnel worked with the Rabenaus to ensure that cattle were moved from certain areas ahead of the prescribed burn.
“It will prevent future wildfires that could destroy our livelihood, our house and everything we love,” said Rabenau’s daughter Clara.
Though they support the effort, the family kept a watchful eye on things.
“It’s fire. It’s unpredictable. You never know what’s going to happen,” Clara Rabenau said.
Last month, a prescribed burn in the Cibola National Forest near Grants escaped a containment area because of high winds and burned more than 300 acres.
Even so, the benefits of preventing huge wildfires far outweigh the risks of carefully managed prescribed burns, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
There is no eradicating all fire. Lightning sparks as many as 100 fires a year in isolated areas of the Gila National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service allows some of those natural fires to burn out if they don’t pose a hazard.
But after decades of Smokey Bear warning about the danger of forest fires, convincing people not to fear all fire is tough.
“Give the bear a break,” Call said. “He’ll learn.”
Smokey’s website now includes some information about prescribed burns as an effective tool for managing the intensity and spread of wildfires.
“We’re having to go back and re-educate people that not all fire is a bad thing,” Brown said. “There is a place for fire on our landscape.”