Fire, the solution to the Great Plains invader

One of the more exciting things I am involved in is controlled burning in and near the Nebraska Sandhills. I have been helping with these controlled burns for 7+ years now. and between me and my brothers and son have helped on around 10,000 acres.

Assembly of the fire fighters

This is just a small part of the crew assembled to start the fire and keep it in bounds. These are the big rigs, self made by the farmers and ranchers in the area. These rigs are old military vehicles 6x6’s , hummers etcetera and are stripped down and rebuilt. Water tanks of 1500 plus gallons of water, hundreds of feet of hoses, water pumps capable of pumping hundreds of gallons of water in minutes. Some have cab controlled remote nozzles that can be directed at the fire from inside the cab, they have cat bird perches for 2 or more on the bed with hoses to lay down water and some even have spray nozzles around the truck to spray a line of water down. Very ingenious/innovative stuff is on these trucks and it seems every year as they get more experience they add features. These trucks make the fire far easier to maintain in bounds. As the man with the drip torch lays down the fire these trucks travel along wetting down the grass along the preimeter. They line up one by one and as one truck runs out of water another is right behind to pick up where the other left off. At various points along the perimeter large 1500 -3000 gallon water tanks are strung out to have refill water available close by.

Depending up the size of the burn up to 20,000 gallons of water is put out alone the perimeter. Plus all the water in these rigs and the multitudes of atv’s. These fires can range from a couple hundred acres to over 1000 acres. The largest one I have been on was 1300 acres.

These may seem like they would take a along time to burn. The 1300 acre fire was started at 1:30 in the afternoon and was wrapped up are 6:30 that evening. We did patrol it overnight. My brother and I went 36 hours without sleep, just going around the primeter making sure nothing was blown out over night. A 110 acre CRP ground fire was 45 minutes start to finish. Alot depends on the terrain, wind and humidity. The time consuming part is the prep work. Sometimes roads have to be built, you also cut as many trees as you economically can and push them into canyon walls so the fire can get hotter and burn more trees. This can take 3-5 years in some cases more. This is not to say fires cannot start back up if the wind picks up a week or two later, big trees can harbor embers for weeks and a strong wind can re kindle a fire. On the 1300 acre fire it restarted a week after the initial fire. It did start in a interior areas, so several land owners went in and started more interior fires to clean up more areas that did not burn previously.

The above was taken around midnight as I was on overnight fire watch.

No that is not the sun setting. It is a canyon of cedar trees on fire after sunset. The picture does not do the awesomeness of seeing it in real life. Truly an amazing sight and experience.

Their are multitudes of standard atv and side by sides outfitted with water tanks and sprayers. These are the life blood of the operation. They are quick, nimble and can get to a outbreak more quickly than the big rigs. These just travel the preimeter of the fire watching for out breaks and if their is one they get right on it and put the fire out.

Some of the atv’s carry torches to light back fires or once an area is burnt and spots are skipped they go back in and lay more fire down in those spots. Truly dangerous work.

It is amazing how little water it takes to put out a fire IF you get on it before it gets too large and put the water down in the right spots. You don’t put it on the fire to start with, you lay down a line of water around it to contain it then go in and put it on the fire.

The smoke from these fires can be seen 30-40 plus miles away. The heat and smoke nearby are intense.

In the time I have been helping on these fire I have yet to hear or see anybody get hurt. While to an outsider it may look dangerous everybody is extremely careful and conscious of their surroundings and other crew members. One thing about the crew I help is we have no real leader, while their are a couple of guys that are looked to as the leaders they do not claim to be that and honestly do not act like it. No egos get in the way, everybody can make suggestions. I have talked to other crews and they have set leaders and they have problems retaining people because egos get in the way. Our group is simply a bunch of neighbors that get together to have a big bbq of cedar trees. At the end of the day the landowner provides food and refreshments for the crew. That is their cost for having the crew out along with showing up and helping each other on their fires. Its an amazing group, a community that is on the spot to help. Even though we live 250 miles away we are treated like neighbors that live in the area. Truly amazing when you consider what the overall world has become.

Here you can see the trees that were burnt and the recovery a few months later. Unfortunately fire does not get all the trees as you can see in the back ground - their are survivors.

The above picture does not do justice to just how steep this hill is. Those of us with 4x4 atvs had to build up a head of steam going down to make it up to the top of this hill. This is near the Nebraska Sandhills so once the top soil is removed to put in the road, sand is exposed in places and it is hard to get drive through without loosing momentum. The 6x6 had trouble with sand about half way up and had to take several shots to make it where he is at. Then he had to jigger it around little bites at a time to get so he could go up the hill. As you can see the drop of at the landing zone behind him was steep and trecherous. This particular guy and his crew seem to have no fear. I have seen them go places most of us would not walk.

Yes their was still snow on the ground in many places from a blizzard about 10 days prior.

The above picture the wind changed and I got caught in a black out of smoke and fire coming up a canyon wall. I literally could not see more than a few inches. I could not even see my throttle or handlebars. These fire do make their own wind, as the fire gets going and gets hotter the wind direction can shift in the blink of an eye. So paying attention where you’ve been and where you are going is important in case you have to make a quick exit to a safer area.

Fire while destructive also is a cleaning and renewal. This is several months after a fire. What comes after a fire is a much more diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna. Prior to the fire their was little in the way of grass or wildlife. Now this area is teaming with both.

Laying down fire. Usually their are 2 people with drip torches laying down fire, each walking in the oposite direction. You start on the side the the wind is blowing across. For example if the wind is from the west you start on the east side. You want the fire to work against the wind into the burn area. These two people walk the entire preimiter laying down fire. Up and down canyons and it can be miles. They meet onthe side where the wind is blowing towards the burn area. This is when things really get going as a 15 mph driving the flames makes pretty quick work of meeting the line made around the area. The 1300 acre fire we helped with was 2 1/2 hours to go around it on a atv, so it take stamina.

Here you can see a smokenado going across the field. Sometimes the fire gets so intense that firenados are formed. Flames going 7 feet to 50 feet inthe air. These nados can be a problem as they care hot embers up and just like a tornado deposit them elsewhere. This is where the atv’s and having a good sized crew come in. the atv’s can turn on a dime, go through rough areas and get to any break outs quickly.

Well I hope everybody enjoyed this little excursion away from the rolling disaster we are currently witnessing. I know I look forward to these fires and getting together with so many people I barely know and being considered and considering them friends and neighbors. To accomplish so much with so few people is quite a feat. Over the years it truly has been an amazing experience that I am glad to be a part of. The number of people that get to experience these burns is extremely small when you look at the population of just Nebraska. Its less than 1000 state wide.

We have many amazing people in this country, people we can depend on. We just have to get out of our own way, shut our screens off and away from the radio and tv. Just take a chance and enter a new experience with new people. It will show that all is not doom and gloom. Take a chance, sharing a experience with those you do not know can really be an eye and mind opening event and you will make friends you did not know you had.