Typical…and not so typical…terrain and fuel load
I found these pictures online recently that portray the very most common forest fire we find in southern New England today — a low, relatively slow fire burning leaf litter along the forest floor. These fires are ideally suited to the six man hand tool team.
Greenfield, MA 23 April 2008
Middlebury, CT 18 April 2008
The biggest risk with fires in this terrain and fuel is they are so common complacency sets in, and that will likely lead to injuries or deaths in the future when there is a failure to recognize much more hazardous situations when it is encountered. Click for more information on the Greenfield or Middlebury fires.
Even forests that have remained stable for decades can change in character overnight.
In December, 2008 a major ice storm impacted much of New England particularly the Berkshire Hills, north Central Massachusetts, and Southern New Hampshire. Note in the above photos the minimal amount of fuel in the form of small branches, logs, and such other then the leaves. Contrast that to the photos below taken in Paxton, MA area in the wake of the ice storm — for the next several years they will be facing a much higher fuel load on the forest floor until the debris rots, it will be much more labor intensive to access the fires and then construct fire lines and overhaul hot spots. With the tree canopy shattered, the sunlight will encourage brushy thickets to grow up and many of the trees will die becoming punky snags which will need to be cut down if they catch on fire.
Woods road entering reservoir lands for the City of Worcester.
Ice storm damage, Paxton, MA March 2009
While not impossible for a team with Indian Tanks, rakes, and brooms to construct a fire line through, clearly they would have much more intense work to do. More water — from hoses — will be needed to extinguish the extent of burning debris so sparks later don’t fly over fire lines, and power tools like chainsaws will save much labor in constructing those lines. No matter what the preference in tools and tactics the areas hit hard by the ice storms will spend a lot more labor and time controlling fires over the next few years until the forests mature once again.
Historically New England has experienced severe forest fire problems in years following major disturbances by hurricanes and ice storms, and there’s no reason to not expect it to occur again in the wake of this storm.
