Firefighters in North Carolina’s Pilot Mountain State Park hope to have an escaped prescribed fire 90 percent contained by the end of the day on Monday. On Thursday the burn boss and New River State Park Superintendent Joseph Shimel supervised the ignition of the fire intending to burn 180 acres, but in the afternoon a dead tree near the fireline torched, sending burning embers into steep terrain outside the project’s perimeter, eventually blackening about 800 acres over the weekend.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Charlie Peek, public information officer for the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation said the escaped fire:
…pretty much illustrated why we need prescribed burns, because any time fire hits this area — leaf litter, debris and brush — it’s much more difficult to control, and things can get out of hand much more quickly.
Previously the largest prescribed fire in the Park had been 35 acres. Small burns had been conducted in 2004 and 2009.
A spokesperson talks about the fire in a video.
One of the many reasons people like me oppose “prescribed” burning.
Jesse – I’m reminded of the old Fram Oil Filter commercial on TV: “You can pay me now, or pay me later.”
There will be fire on the land, it’s just a matter of when it occurs. Yeah, we occasionally screw up on prescribed burns and they get away; better trying to do something rather than let ole Mother Nature put fire on the ground under her sometimes extreme conditions.
Look at the NIFC end-of-season reports for acres burned under prescription as opposed to under wildfires, and then tell me you’re still opposed to prescribed burning. If your opposition still stands, I’ll be looking forward to seeing your thoughts on cost-efficient, large scale fuel treatments and vegetation manipulation alternatives
To paraphrase the PIO, the fact that the prescribed burn got out of control shows why we need prescribed burns.
Slick. I’m going to remember that.