Today was a good day. I was up early to do the chores and get prepared for a day of hot, hard labor to get the pasture grasses burned while there's still plenty of dried grasses to fuel the fire. Some ranchers burn pastures every Spring to help control weeds and brushy plants. I only do it every other year.....lazy I guess.
This morning was cool and calm as we gathered at my place to coordinate who was to do what. There were five of us who had decided to burn about 600 acres, covering parts of three different ranches. The land was all contiguous, which is a good thing, but we also had to work around my house, another house, some gas wells, and a couple of old wooden barns. To do it correctly requires a little planning, and to do it safely requires a large dose of common sense.
Last Saturday I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the results of an ill-planned and poorly executed burn started by one of my part-time neighbors. As I mentioned above, a large dose of common sense is in order when dealing with fire. This is especially so when your actions are putting others in harms way. It's illegal to start a controlled burn when the wind exceeds 20mph, so even though you may have made plans to burn, common sense and the law, would dictate that a person cancel the burn until more favorable conditions prevail. If we had gathered this morning, and the wind was blowing too hard, we would have waited until another day.
Saturday I awoke to the smell of smoke. The wind had been howling all night long, and the forecast was for high winds, low humidity, and a temperature in the high eighties......not exactly ideal burning conditions. My first thought was a wildfire, not someone trying to burn intentionally. Wrong! This particular neighbor is a weekender, and has a history of making poor decisions when it comes to lighting matches. Chalk up another one for him!
We ended up with three different fire departments responding, several neighbors chipping in, and the sheriff having a "congenial" visit with the culprit. But, you know what? I'll bet he'll do the same thing again next year, or the year after. Some people just have no common sense, or is it that they have no respect for anyone or anything.....I really don't know the answer.
We were lucky this time. First, we were at home, and second the wind was from the south so we were on the backside of the fire. Still, it ended up burning about eighty acres of my place, and ended up at the driveway to my house. Too close for comfort.
Today's burn went off without a hitch. All it took was a little coordination among neighbors, the right equipment to deal with the unexpected, and most of all a big dose of common sense! I'm going to have a face to face "talk" with my neighbor to the north, and I'm almost positive that he will come away with at least a "small" dose of common sense......or maybe not.....after all, what do I know?
No comments:
Post a Comment