There’s fire. My first summer in Washington was spent working for the US Forest Service. I was on a “brush disposal” crew. Our job was to clear the slash off of clear-cuts by setting it on fire, and then to control the fire as best we could. It was the hardest work I’ve ever done. One late afternoon, after we’d dug a fire line around a fifty acre clear-cut, the torch crew walked back and forth lighting the top end of the site and working their way down. We moved silently along our fire line. It was a steep site and as evening came upon us, the fire grew in intensity. The heat radiated off the slope until the crowns of the tall evergreen trees at the low end of the site burst into flames. The fire burned through our canvas hoses so we chased the sparks and burning branches with shovels and pulaskis as they fell. We worked all night putting out embers as they dropped to the forest floor. At dawn we were relieved by a fresh crew and taken back to camp. I thought I’d stay up all day and go to bed at the usual time. But just as I crawled into my bunk, they called us back out on the fire. We have smoke here which keeps me indoors. I’d like to be hiking, or gardening, enjoying the last few weeks of summer. But I can’t complain. I feel for the people who are suffering, the loss of life and property, and the plant and animal life, both wild and domestic. And I feel for the firefighters who are working around the clock to try to contain these wildfires. A few days ago I caught myself thinking, “I’m glad I live on an island,” as if the water would save us. A moment later I realized it could happen here, too. And it has! In the 1980’s when I worked at Fort Casey State Park, I was called to Ebey’s Bluff where a beach fire on July 4th had smoldered for days before a breeze blew it back to life. The embers went sailing into the dry grass on the bluff. Fortunately, a fire crew responded and put it out leaving a smoking black scar. In 2016, a fire burned at Little Cranberry Lake in the Anacortes Forest Lands. In 2010 a cigarette started a fire at Fort Ebey State Park. Jack Hartt told me he'd responded to another fire on Hope Island in Deception Pass State Park. There was a fire at Bowman Bay in the 1990’s. A few years ago a fire caught at Sares Head at Sharpe Park just a half mile away. So yes, we have fires here, too. I grew up with Smokey the Bear, who was developed by the USFS to teach us about fire prevention. Smokey’s original message back in 1944 was “9 out of 10 forest fires are manmade”. Smokey taught us how to “douse our campfire, stir it and douse it again.” Later, a new message, based on the war-time posters of “Uncle Sam”, showed Smokey pointing a finger and saying, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.” The latest slogan says, “Only You Can Prevent Wildland Fires” which includes grasslands. All of these messages are still critical. Land use agencies have learned a lot about forest management and fire prevention over the years. With controlled burns, they can reduce the fuel loads and minimize fire impact. Before the first white settlers arrived on Central Whidbey, the Salish used fire to keep the prairie clear of trees and open to camas flowers, an important food source. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust successfully used small controlled burns for prairie restoration at Admiralty Inlet Preserve. The Whidbey Island Conservation District offers a program called Firewise. They help you determine how to prevent devastating loss should a fire occur in your neighborhood. They will work with individual property owners or with the whole neighborhood. Find out more at www.whidbeycd.org/firewise.html Maribeth Directions; Stay inside until air quality improves. Be careful with fire. Never leave a fire unattended. Have a shovel and water ready. Keep flammables away from your home and outbuildings. Check out the Firewise program.
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Maribeth Crandell has been a hiking guide in the Pacific NW for over 20 years. She's lived on Whidbey and Fidalgo Island for decades. As a frequent bus rider she easily makes connections between trails and transit. Archives by date
March 2024
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