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View Full Version : New Mexico is BURNING!!



elder999
26th June 2003, 15:06
Well, this past weekend we had to prepare to evacuate because we were in the path of the Virgin Mesa forest fire, not an act of arson, but an incorrectly doused campfire. That fire burned itself out, after many air drop slurry runs and fighting the fire on theground at a cost of about $450,000 for three days. While it was burning, someone set two fires in the forest to the west of it. Those fires were quickly put out, but it was arson.

Yesterday, they extinguished a 400 some odd acre fire in Albuquerque’s bosque-the woods that girdle the Rio Grande river. This was also not arson, but set by someone’s firecracker. Just as that fire was under control, though, someone set the woods nearby on fire in several places, a deliberate act of arson that has resulted in a massive costly mobilization of firefighting assets, including the National Guard

Aside from the personal inconvenience-forest fires are one of the risks of living in the forest in New Mexico, though evacuating takes on a whole new meaning when it includes livestock.-I’m more than a little torqued that this is how someone gets their jollies. :mad:

I looked at all of this from an emergency management standpoint-the cost, the massive mobilization of resources,and the terror of those people who live in Albuquerque’s bosque, and I thought, geez, we could just substitute “act of terror” for “arson,” and “terrorist” for “someone” ( though the Friends of the Forest, or Forest Guardians or some other eco-terrorist or just a plain firebug are the likely candidates) and you see just how vulnerable we all can be, just to a guy with a book of matches, never mind a WMD.

Charles Mahan
26th June 2003, 15:16
I'll be driving out to California from Texas in the middle of next week for a seminar. Any chance the fires are gonna cause havoc near I 40?

elder999
26th June 2003, 15:28
A stretch of I-40 was shutdown yesterday, but by next week there'll be no Bosque if it keeps burning...it won't though.....

Charles Mahan
26th June 2003, 16:08
Ugh. As if a non-stop 30 hour trip isn't long enough. All I need is for I 40 to get shut down for a period of time while I'm trying to cross New Mexico. At least it'll be tag team driving.

Shitoryu Dude
26th June 2003, 20:50
It is my opinion that we are seeing the grand results of a century of bad forest management. The concept that all fires needed to be put out added decades worth of fuel to the ground that leads to massive fires when they finally catch.

Periodic wildfires are a natural part of the system. Putting them out prematurely throws the whole thing out of whack. It will adjust itself in the end, no matter how hard to try to keep it from doing so.

:beer:

Charles Mahan
26th June 2003, 21:00
The problem is that the fires we are seeing now are not natural fires. Due to the absurd level of undergrowth in some of these areas, fires that naturaly would just race along the ground burning off dead wood and other scrub, instead climb all the way to the tree crowns where it is able to kill the trees. This phenomenon also manages to produce temperatures high enough to sterilize the soil to some extent. Recovery from these types of fires takes a great deal longer than with naturally occuring fires.

The problem is a lot worse than people think.

elder999
26th June 2003, 21:19
Well, you're both right, according to my wife the former forester, and the current doctrine of the Forest service, as well...
...part of the problem is also a history of grazing in the forests, eliminating the grasses that would burn regularly....

....and, of course, morons lighting fires..........:mad:

PwarYuex
30th June 2003, 14:22
I live on the edge of the biggest national park in Australia. Every year, around Christmas, some genius punk-kid will decide that lighting fires is fun, and burn down a few houses. In 1995 a fire destroyed 400+ homes. I think four or five people were killed from memory. Two firemen trapped in their truck, and a mother with her child/children.

Thankfully, we have a diesal pump, and a pool. So that's a plus.

If I caught anyone lighting a fire in my bush I would have no hesitation to cripple them. Supposudly, last year during the fires, when we evacuated, a fireman caught a theif stealing a VCR from an unlocked house (all of which should be left unlocked). I don't understand the weirdness of some people.

Charles Mahan
30th June 2003, 14:51
Aaron if you here anything about I40 being closed again please let me know. I'm leaving Denton, at 6:00AM Wed morning which means I'll be passing through I40 Wed during the afternoon. As I'm driving non-stop to Cali, any delay is a bloody nuisance.