Fort Ord controlled burn
October 14, 2013
October 14, 2013
Here's the smoke plume from 8 minutes, 1 hour, and almost 2 hours after they started the fire at 10:20am this morning. I'll admit that I used to really detest these fires. The orange sky is disorienting, and everyone seems to get grouchy. I blogged about them in 2009 and 2010. I don't think they burned the last 2 years. One year's cancellation was because they discovered such big unexploded ordnances on the surface of the ground that it would have been extremely dangerous to have a fire. Something about the potential for shrapnel to cross into residential areas? Now that I've been on a few BRAC field trips, I understand why they burn and am a little more tolerant. With all the keep out signs, I'm amazed we don't hear about exploded deer or pigs. We'll probably have a couple more fires before the year is out. I'm quite afraid of wildfires, so even though these are "controlled", they still scare me a bit.
ps - BigSurKate posted photos of this fire as well. Here are additional local news links: Monterey County Herald, KSBW, and KION.
pss 10/15/13 - Another day, another fire: BigSurKate, Monterey County Herald, KSBW, and KION. Units 10 and 7, plus is a little extra, were burned this year.
pss 10/22/13 - It's interesting to juxtapose our local controlled burns with fires down under, like this post from BunyipCo.
pss 10/26/13 - These 2 burns are still making the local news: Monterey County Herald and KSBW.
pss 03/18/14 - I received a notification that there will be no prescribed burns in 2014. Yay?
ps - BigSurKate posted photos of this fire as well. Here are additional local news links: Monterey County Herald, KSBW, and KION.
pss 10/15/13 - Another day, another fire: BigSurKate, Monterey County Herald, KSBW, and KION. Units 10 and 7, plus is a little extra, were burned this year.
pss 10/22/13 - It's interesting to juxtapose our local controlled burns with fires down under, like this post from BunyipCo.
pss 10/26/13 - These 2 burns are still making the local news: Monterey County Herald and KSBW.
pss 03/18/14 - I received a notification that there will be no prescribed burns in 2014. Yay?
5 comments:
That's an awful lot of smoke. I hope it doesn't drift into anyone's neighborhood.
Good photos. They show how much smoke can occur during a controlled burn and how that can be a concern. Whenever I have worked controlled burns as a biologist, I've had to be there early and I've noticed the deer skedaddle by the time the second or third fire engine arrives; and usually there are dozens of fire engines, plus many patrol trucks, a helicopter and maybe a bulldozer on a flatbed truck just as backup that show up too, so the deer are outta-there. Since controlled burns are usually just in the grasslands, the deer seem to know they should head for the forest.
I'm not a fan of burns either but I do understand their purpose.
Yep, John, I feel badly for the downwind residents, because it's not only smoke but snowy white ash, too.
Hey, Cindy, I haven't read any news this morning, yet, but I suspect it created problems at our airport which is directly downwind from this site. Today, they're planning on doing another section that's even closer to the airport. I feel badly for all the horned lizards that must have gotten fried. I hope I can finagle a tour next spring to see the fire poppies.
Joe, these controlled burns are a little unusual in that they're not primarily for habitat management; they're to remove vegetation as cheaply as possible so that unexploded ordinances can be located and removed before transfer of Army Lands to the public.
(ordnance, not ordinance)
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