Texas Wildfires

[leswad]

Has anyone else been affected by the fires in Texas? I assume that a fire has not been through my place in about 75 years and this was probably the best thing to happen for my place since I was clearing off Juniper Cedar by hand. Unfortunately, for my neighbor and a lot of other people this fire has been a nightmare instead of a blessing. Currently we have firefighters from 34 other states fighting to keep property safe while risking their own lives.

I never knew I owned so many rocks until now!










I had a game camera survive this encounter... Notice the temperature rise. As I think it got so hot that the base of the Cedar trees looks to have exploded.

[ridewv]

That looks bad, it must be very dry there. I take it unusually so this time of the year? Just the opposite here. Flood warnings today in northern WV, the ground is saturated. We've gone from snow to rain with very few days w/o precipitation.

[Old 44 Guy]

It's really sad to see so much distruction. Maybe you can sell firewood?Hope the rains come your way soon.

[Munsterf18]

My nephew just got a "break" from college classes, as he's a Texas National Guard member and got called to active duty to fight fires. He said it beats last year in Iraq anyway.

Hope all goes well.
Munster

[leswad]

I think we have been under a burn ban for the last four months, so it has been a tender box for a while.... I might be able to sell some charcoal now

Munsterf18, tell your nephew thank you for his service! It is greatly appreciated!

[tops]

I'm just curious and nosy. Will you cut the trees down and if you do what then? Leave the stumps or push the trees down? Do nothing and let nature handle it? Larry

[MK]

That's something else.. I think this has been the driest spring
I've ever seen, and I'm in Houston which usually gets more rain
than other parts of the state. It's dry as a bone here.

I know what you mean about the cedars. I have the same deal up
at my OK place, which burned in 2006 a year before I bought it.
I didn't even realized it had burned at first. That's how fast everything
usually grows back once you get some rain.
After I started going up there I noticed some burned tree trunks,
etc on the ground. It also burned the base of the cedar gate posts I
have up front. The people that owned the property across from me had
a camper there for hunting, etc, and it burned to the ground and was
twisted melted metal, so it must have been pretty hot.
In my case, I never have tried to clear anything. Everything is going
back to the ground naturally.
But sometimes I do sort of wish I could do another controlled burn to
clear out more cedars. That stuff is really invasive, and quite a fire
hazard.
One thing I noticed.. The fire will kill many of the smaller and
medium cedars and leave a dead tree standing up. But it seems most
of the larger hardwoods survive. Or at least they did in my case.
Your hardwoods look pretty toasted, but I bet many or most survive.
Wait a year, and it will look like a different place. Assuming rain.. :/
Once you get water, everything will get really green.

[Muddyboot]

I wish I could send you some of the rain that just won't stop coming in Ohio. From watching the farm report I guess large parts of Texas are in severe drought, so best wishes and take care.

[joeintexas]

Boy we sure could use some of that rain folks are getting in the north and east, maybe not quite that much though! I read where 252 of the 254 counties in texas are having wildfires burning right now, several smaller towns had to be evacuated temporarily. Seems like out of something bad something good comes along, it is refreshing to see people coming together to help with food, clothing, whatever they can do. I think the news said 34 states have sent firefighters in to help fight the fires, is this a great country or what.

[longranger]

Although the fires seem to be devastating to the areas involved and the loss of personal property is heartbreaking.
There is a silver lining in the destruction in that alot or all of the light/medium fuels have been consumed and various species of plants need the fire to propagate.Several years of above average precipitation have generated abundant growth which enhances fire behavior during drought periods.This coupled with 150 years of stomping out any sort of fire that would occur have allowed for unchecked growth in areas not frequented by fire.(Yellowstone)
Many states are now learning what California has known for decades,defensable spaces,access and water supplies.
Spent 28 years in the fire service in CA.and watched trying to put out any and all fires to control burns in the winter time in all topography.No defensable space,growth all the up to the buildings,no access or water.Those places now will burn in CA no resources placed on loser properties.Those who lost buildings in TX will no doubt re-evaluate their prepardness for future fires.TX is not alot different than CA in terms of the flammabilty of available fuels.

[leswad]

Originally Posted by tops

I'm just curious and nosy. Will you cut the trees down and if you do what then? Leave the stumps or push the trees down? Do nothing and let nature handle it? Larry

I have heard that once they are dead a while, you can just push them over... Hopefully that will be the case, if not I will probably cut them. I do have a wet weather creek, and from what I have heard, once cedar is removed creeks will come back. I am praying for that.

[cass]

The fires are about 10 miles West of me. At the house, it looks like snow - everything is coated in fine ash. I tried to drive to my deer lease to check for damage, but all the roads were closed to anything except emergency personnel. If it does to the lease what it did to your place, I'm going to have a fine time metal detecting and looking for Indian arrowheads. All those cute Rattlesnakes are fried - so sad.

[Rangerpat]

It's been my experience in Florida that the rattlesnakes will crawl down a hole and wait for the fires to pass, the ones caught out in the open will be crispy critters.
Some of the dead trees will be infested with insects after the fire, so if you want the wood you better start cutting the trees down right away.
Stay safe Texans and pray for the safety of your neighbors and firefighters.

[5-Shot]

We had a 22,000 acre fire burn to within 500 yds of our house several years ago when we lived in the Oregon high desert. You will be amazed by what it looks like a year from now. For the desert at least, a fire is about the best thing that can happen. Lots of strange things are going to happen this summer though. Someone has already mentioned the soot. It's a nightmare. One thing that fascinated was that the blackened earth heated up on summer afternoons creating stationary dust devils. From a mountain 10 miles you could look out into the burn a see three or four large near stationary columns rising up perhaps 1000 feet and they would stay there for hours.

Ed