The big danger/problem after a severe fire is flash flooding, of course. Here’s a picture of a beaver pond that was down the road from us before the fire:
Here are two pictures that Andy took today:
As you can see from the animal tracks, it has now turned into a mud flat.
Here’s a picture of the erosion the water caused in the road. Andy included his walking stick to show how deep the rut was.
As the saying goes,
Life is seldom simple.
Do you have any messes to clean up in your life?
No messes for us as severe as the losses from a wildfire.
A week or so ago, I had related to one of my co-workers, Joe, that the main difference between this summer and the summer I started working there was that we hadn’t had the fires this year like back then. The day that I started working at the plant in August, 1980, was the day of the Mill Creek fire. While nothing compared to the Los Alamos fire, it jumped the interstate and U.S. 64 and was heading for the plant. Fortunately it was contained before it went too far. For a couple of weeks, though, it seemed like there were always wildfires burning somewhere close. The Mt. Nebo fire burned for several days and had volunteers from all over fighting it. The fires of 1980 were the genesis of many of the rural volunteer fire departments in this part of the state.
Ironically, as I was heading home after relating that to Joe, I saw smoke from a wildfire just after I left the plant and, not too far down the road, I could see flames in the woods. When I mentioned to Joe a day or two later how odd it had been that there was a fire after what I had said in our conversation, he told me that after he had passed the fire heading into town, he looked in his rear-view mirror and the fire was in the tops of the trees. The fire had already jumped the interstate, but, fortunately, it had nowhere to go as the lake was a natural fire barrier in the direction it was moving.
Our heat wave has been broken! We’ve had good soaking rain for several days in a row. Our highs have been 20 to 30 degrees lower than what they were just a week ago.
no messes of that magnitude here…
Mike,
I’m happy you’re now spared the fires…and that it’s no longer so ungodly hot! I’ve been thinking of you and tammy when I read about the heat wave.
Cathy,
We’re guessing the former pond will end up with plenty of grass without human intervention. Fixing up the roads is another matter. There’s a good chance the fellows doing the work for us will start a week from Monday. I’ll keep you posted.
I guess the access is going to be more difficult especially with this string of events – the flooding and gouging of the land.
What has happened to the beavers…losing their home must have been disturbing for them? Probably a lot of animals have had their habitation disturbed as well…and they are really important in wilderness areas
We don’t have beavers here 🙂 but I seem to recall they make intriguing woven wood homes…
My brain? My loosened up prosthesis in the hip?
“Life is seldom simple.”
I saw a poster in a kitchen. ‘Simplify, Simplify, Simplify’
Henry Thoreau
++++++++++++
Cathy, the animals not only lost their homes, they lost their lives.
bhb:
oh yes, sorry wasn’t thinking about animal lives…being lost.
Jean: do you know if the authorities are going to reintroduce animals which really are the heart beat of a forest. Without them re-seeding and creating new stands of flora will not take place as easily. I know that service people want a ‘straight line’ approach but without the beasties other things start to happen…but I suppose it still early days for such plans to be in place – just my idea of a good envirnoment
Cathy,
There are enough animals around that the area will repopulate by itself. But I do feel sorry for the ones who didn’t make it. One of our neighbors had two horses, and they weren’t at home when the fire hit. A friend rescued their dogs and let the horses out, but they didn’t get far before they were consumed. They’re heartbroken, of course, and don’t plan to move back, except maybe eventually to build a cabin.
Rummuser,
Good luck with your hip. Not sure we can do much about our brains. 😀