You'd think after the summer we had, the last thing we would be interested in doing would be setting fires. You'd be wrong though. Conditions were just right for a controlled burn at the pond so we suited up and let her roll. We started along the shore line and worked our way into the woods.
Here you can see two lines of flame coming together. That's what you want to see on a burn. The flames weren't too hot or too high and we got good coverage on the forest floor.
We did get a hot spot or two that we had to keep an eye on. The flames above are from an old long-leaf pine stump that caught up. Old pine stumps like this are just about pure "fat" wood and when they burn, they burn hot.
You can see by the scooped scar on this stump that this tree was used to provide pitch back in the day. You can also see that the openings around the base made for near perfect chimney conditions, adding to the intensity of the blaze. I sort of hated to see this one burn. It was a little piece of history. But it's is probably best that it burned while we were there to monitor it rather than during an actual wildfire.
Hope everyone has had a great start to 2012 - I can't believe we are already a full week into the new year.
5 comments:
Are you burning to control invasives, or just to keep the woods free of underbrush? It's good to see your posts once more, loved seeing the thrush, a bird that has left us for the winter.
Oh, these are great photos--they illustrate what you're talking about so perfectly.
I followed you over from Rock Paper Lizard; pleased to make your acquaintance!
Ha! Just scrolled down far enough to realize that this is the blog with the photos of that cute lil' baby rat snake; I've been here before. SwampThings--I'll remember next time!
Hi Woodswalker! This particular burn was to reduce fuel load. We'll be burning some other areas to help with long-leaf pine restoration. And thanks for coming by, I hope to be a little better about posting this year. Let's just say 2011 was not a year I will miss!
Patricia,
I'm delighted you stopped back by. Hugh, over at Rock, Paper, Lizard, is one of my favorite e-people! I hope you will visit again.
Looks like a good control fire. Hope you burned away a lot of the ticks around the pond.
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