Fire on the mountain

[sbhooper]

Anybody hunting the Salida, Colorado, area has a bit of smoke to contend with. My kid is fighting it now.

 

[RockinU]

Prayers for his safety.

 

[turbobrick]

Wildland Firefighters are true heroes, I hope they stay safe. Fire on the Mountain is an excellent book too.

 

[LuketheDog]

That one has been burning for, what, 3 weeks now? Tough spot to fight a fire...

 

[COEngineer]

| InciWeb

Incidents Page of for the Inciweb site.

inciweb.nwcg.gov

 

[Zach]

I can see the smoke out my west facing living room window. Making for some colorful sunsets, but that's not comforting knowing how the forest looks.

 

[sbhooper]

I can see the smoke out my west facing living room window. Making for some colorful sunsets, but that's not comforting knowing how the forest looks.

They have let it burn, hoping to right some wrongs and clean up the wilderness. Now, it has gotten to a bad spot and they have to protect stuff. They pulled my kid’s crew off to re-evaluate. They are just chasing spot fires for now. Tough deal. It needs to burn, but it is a tough call, as to when to shut it down. Snow may be coming in another week to quiet things down. It will be a great area, in a year or two. Dead forest is bad.

 

[LuketheDog]

There was another fire a couple years ago just a couple miles east of there, near Howard, that was very similar, really blew up in the dry conditions and burned a lot of timber in a short time.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I was in that area the first week of May turkey hunting. There’s a restaurant in town that has a great price on a good filet mignon.

 

[dwatling]

I was in that area the day it started, that fire grew very quickly. Had smoke all through the San Luis valley.

 

[Zach]

I was in that area the first week of May turkey hunting. There’s a restaurant in town that has a great price on a good filet mignon.

You talking about Quincy's?

 

[Zach]

They have let it burn, hoping to right some wrongs and clean up the wilderness. Now, it has gotten to a bad spot and they have to protect stuff. They pulled my kid’s crew off to re-evaluate. They are just chasing spot fires for now. Tough deal. It needs to burn, but it is a tough call, as to when to shut it down. Snow may be coming in another week to quiet things down. It will be a great area, in a year or two. Dead forest is bad.

I think there was a fire in the same area last year, I've got some pictures from when I was fishing near Antero. 3-4 years that whole area will be great, but so will the point creep.

 

[N2TRKYS]

You talking about Quincy's?

Yes.

 

[COEngineer]

Interactive map with closures and hunting units labeled. Decker Fire: https://arcg.is/1zPGWH

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Fire on the Mountain - Grateful Dead at Barton Hall 5/8/77
Couldn't resist

 

[Sytes]

Prayer sent for your son and the men/women that work these fires.

Not much beats the opportunity to buy appetizers for a fire crew when I find myself in the right place at the right time. Rough set of quality Wildland firefighters have my appreciation.

 

[sbhooper]

You are right, Sytes. They are tough bastards. The kid’s crew left and went to North Carolina. The fire jumped all of the lines that they cut. Their whole crew is leaving tomorrow for the two-day trip back to Colorado. They were sick of being cold, but fire season is not over there. There is also one now, over toward Montrose. They need snow!

 

[Hummer]

The area I hunt burned last year from late July to mid-September. They let it burn but it blew up and at one point there were a thousand personnel working the fire. I visited the area 2 weeks ago and will be hunting there this weekend.

The aspen and meadow areas that were lightly burned has recovered well in one year. The dense spruce-fir timber that burned intensely is still largely black coal and ash with only a few low growing plants emerging. I think it will take a few more years but it should greatly improve the forage and the hunting.

Last year the deer and elk were moving through the burned ground but not bedding there. I don't expect it to be much different this year. Stay tuned.

When I watched the progression of the fire and the images of the fire and firefighters I was amazed by the work they were doing. During my hunt last October I saw first hand how they worked the fire lines, the perimeters, and the trenches they dug. Those young men and women have my greatest respect. I'll bet they matured very quickly.

 

[sbhooper]

The area I hunt burned last year from late July to mid-September. They let it burn but it blew up and at one point there were a thousand personnel working the fire. I visited the area 2 weeks ago and will be hunting there this weekend.

The aspen and meadow areas that were lightly burned has recovered well in one year. The dense spruce-fir timber that burned intensely is still largely black coal and ash with only a few low growing plants emerging. I think it will take a few more years but it should greatly improve the forage and the hunting.

Last year the deer and elk were moving through the burned ground but not bedding there. I don't expect it to be much different this year. Stay tuned.

When I watched the progression of the fire and the images of the fire and firefighters I was amazed by the work they were doing. During my hunt last October I saw first hand how they worked the fire lines, the perimeters, and the trenches they dug. Those young men and women have my greatest respect. I'll bet they matured very quickly.

Not for the feint of heart, for sure.