Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

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dmthomas49
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Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by dmthomas49 » May 29th, 2018, 4:43 pm

"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
— John Muir

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mjirving
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by mjirving » May 29th, 2018, 6:23 pm

That’s incredible. I had no idea they could last that long.

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BigBear
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by BigBear » May 31st, 2018, 8:42 am

At Tiffany Mountain in the North Cascades, there was a forest fire about 10 years ago, USFS layed straw down on the ground to reduce the spring erosion from snowmelt, and the fire started back up again that summer from embers in the tree roots. It is surprising that "heat" can survive the cold winters (fires require fuel, heat & oxygen).

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retired jerry
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by retired jerry » May 31st, 2018, 9:43 am

I went to Dublin Lake in the gorge in the winter a couple years ago and there was a root fire from someone's campfire. I have no idea how long it had been burning, but it seemed to be quite a while.

Something to consider when you have a campfire, make sure you're not catching any roots on fire.

Aimless
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by Aimless » May 31st, 2018, 10:40 am

Dumping a lot of water on your fire to douse it thoroughly has always been the recommendation. It's very effective. Hardly anyone seems to do it, even in the backcountry. I sometimes come along behind other hikers who've hiked on, see the telltale smoke, and then douse their campfire embers for them. I don't like cleaning up others' messes for them, but I always do it. The alternative seems much, much worse.

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retired jerry
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by retired jerry » May 31st, 2018, 11:22 am

with root fire, it can go a long ways from where the campfire started, difficult to know if it's all out

Aimless
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by Aimless » May 31st, 2018, 11:25 am

You're right. But they are slow. So, if you douse your fire before you go to bed instead of leaving it smoldering overnight, then the chances are much better you'll drown any incipient root fire before it travels much underground.

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retired jerry
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by retired jerry » May 31st, 2018, 12:19 pm

I'm definitely not disagreeing or anything, just talking :)

If you build a fire at an established fire ring, there are probably no roots.

If you build a fire at a new place, there might be a root a bit underneath that you don't notice, although you could dig around just to make sure

Some of you people out there hate fire rings and destroy them wherever you see them. There are cases where fire rings aren't appropriate, but in other cases it's good to have established campsites where the human impact on the wilderness is concentrated, less chance of having a forest fire

bghiker
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by bghiker » June 13th, 2018, 12:27 am

When I was a kid growing up in Southern Oregon, there was a huge fire near the mill town I grew up in, the following fall, during hunting season, I found several root burns like this so I am not at all surprised that they are finding them now in the Eagle Creek area. Luckily, none of them sprouted up and caused a new fire then....hopefully the same thing will happen now.

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drm
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Re: Eagle Creek Fire Flare up

Post by drm » June 14th, 2018, 6:34 am

Back east I think there are coal mine fires that have been burning for decades. There is one in Pennsylvania that has been burning since 1962. But don't even glowing embers still need some oxygen?

I remove fire rings as a volunteer for the Forest Service in areas where fires are not allowed, typically at the edge of the alpine where trees are thinning out. And as much as I look askance at campers having legal fires on 90 degree days at 2 in the afternoon, better that those folks have a well-established ring - please don't remove those rings.

And sometimes rangers and us volunteers service legal rings, removing excess ash, etc. Also sometimes make the huge ones a bit smaller. No need to encourage the Bon in fires.

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