Plans shape up to deal with post-storms fire threat
Emergency traffic paths cleared

By Bradford L. Miner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

State Forest Fire Warden David V. Celino checks cleared fire roads yesterday in Brimfield State Forest near the tornado blow-down area.
(T&G Staff/BRADFORD L. MINER)
» Enlarge photo
Four weather disasters in seven months — a tornado, two tropical storms and a late fall snowstorm — has left much of Central Massachusetts looking like one industrial-strength brush pile.

From main highways and back roads throughout the region still sidelined with debris to significantly larger than usual brush piles in backyards, everyone from individuals to state agencies is asking, “What do we do with it?”

And some, like David V. Celino, state forest fire warden for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, are already looking ahead to the threat represented by branches, limbs and whole trees on the ground come spring and the 2012 forest fire season.

At Brimfield State Forest, hardest hit of the DCR properties from the weather events, Mr. Celino this week checked the work done by Mayer Tree Service during the month of September, clearing roads, fire lanes, hiking trails, the day use area and the administrative complex.

Given that unusual weather contributed to an unprecedented amount of fuel on the ground, Mr. Celino said it will be weather this winter and throughout the coming spring that ultimately determines the severity and duration of the forest fire season.

He said he was pleased to see even just a dusting of snow on the ground, saying that dead vegetation on the ground will have had ample time to dry out or “cure,” by March or April, unless it’s been sitting beneath a foot or more of snow for most of the winter.

“The weather has been like a double-edged sword,” he said, citing on one hand the extraordinary amount of damage to the state’s forests, and on the other, the day-to-day wetter than usual weather throughout the fall.

“Fortunately, that has slowed the curing process for all of the fuel on the ground since the tornado,” he said.

The chief fire warden said the monthlong effort by Mayer Tree Service of Essex had improved access to any wildlands fire in the state forest for brush firetrucks and other fire apparatus, but mounting a direct attack on any fire even a hundred yards off any of the fire roads presented a tactical challenge because the better part of a thousand acres was still inaccessible.

“We’re looking at a situation where we might have to rely on an aerial attack, using helicopters, drawing from the closest water source here. Otherwise, we have a fire bulldozer that could be deployed here as well, if necessary,” he said.

According to Peter Church, director of Forest Stewardship for DCR, the tree service cleared the primary roads and unimproved fire lanes, many of the trails, the day use area and the administrative office and garage complex.

Mr. Church said while the DCR was still assessing damage to parks and forests across the state from the subsequent storms, dealing with the tornado damage at Brimfield had been a priority.

The fire warden said even with improved access, speed would be critical, mounting an initial attack, even in the more remote areas, as quickly as possible to control the spread of any fire.

Mr. Celino said many of the state forests and parks, particularly in the Holyoke Range still have blocked roads and trails from the Oct. 29 snowstorm, but that is not as critical as the tornado blow-down areas that have a five-month head start in drying over the limbs and trees brought down by the snowstorm.

“If we have an open winter, with little or no snow cover and warmer than usual temperatures will be problematic, going into brush fire season with drier than usual conditions in the forests and blow-down areas,” he said.

Given that many brush fires each spring originate as out-of-control brush pile fires, Mr. Celino’s advice to homeowners is simple: “Don’t wait.”

He said open burning season begins Jan. 15 and recommended that brush piles be covered until then with a tarp to keep them dry enough to burn.

“The first occasion after the 15th when there’s little or no wind and at least a few inches of snow on the ground, that’s when as much brush as possible should be burned. Waiting until the end of the brush burning season in April is just asking for trouble,” he said.

As a proactive measure, Mr. Celino said between now and the start of brush fire season he and his Forest Fire Control crew would be having training sessions for fire departments in Brimfield, Monson, Sturbridge and Southbridge, and other communities to the west having been hit by the tornado to provide skills in tackling a wildlands fire which would likely be more intense than an average brush fire where the amount of fuel on the ground is much less.

Mr. Church called the amount of storm damage to DCR properties as unprecedented.

Nonetheless, he said, it was immediately apparent there was a public safety component to the blocked roads, fire lanes, and trails, as well as the day use and headquarters areas that would have to be addressed.

Mr. Church said DCR’s safety concern was twofold — a brush fire in central area of the blow-down as well as any fire on the perimeter of the state property that threatened private homes.

“We started in September and cleared all the fire roads, hiking trails, the day use area and the area around the administration building.” He said the work took about a month. The second phase will consider the homes abutting the DCR boundaries and whether establishing a fire break would be necessary to address the amount of fuel on the ground. There are a number of private properties on Dearth Hill Road, that are like pockets within the park, and we’ll be doing an assessment of those sites within the next couple of months to see if more clearing is warranted.

The cost of the Brimfield forest cleanup was $140,000.

He said DCR foresters would do an assessment of the blow-down area to determine if any of it had salvage value to offset the cost to date of the cleanup.

Edward M. Lambert Jr., DCR commissioner said, “DCR is deeply committed to the rehabilitation of its forests and parks following a year of intense weather and extensive damage to these well-loved spaces.”

“That said, following the most recent storm in October, our first concern was assisting cities, towns and locals in removing dangerous downed trees and materials to clear the way for utility and emergency workers to get residents back online and safe in their homes and communities. With that work mostly complete, DCR refocused its staff, equipment and energy on reopening and rehabilitating our parks and forests,” the commissioner said.

Mr. Lambert said agency personnel, hikers and avid outdoors people, shared the public’s eagerness to get back to the parks; but as stewards, DCR had an obligation to be sure it is safe for visitors before we reopen.”

http://www.telegram.com/article/20111210/NEWS/112109881/1101/local

Group wants bids on wood cleanup

By Bradford L. Miner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Massachusetts Wood Producers Association wants the state to put thousands of acres of forest damaged by the June 1 tornado, the two tropical storms and the Oct. 29 snowstorm up for salvage bid.

Jeff Poirier, president of the group representing loggers, foresters, sawmill operators, firewood dealers and landowners, has asked Richard K. Sullivan Jr., secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to move beyond the cleanup efforts to date that have focused on public safety.

“The Commonwealth has not responded to its forest stewardship responsibility to salvage forest products or conduct meaningful forest restoration,” Mr. Poirier stated in a letter to the EEA secretary.

Mr. Poirier said the association is concerned that the state’s lack of action increases the risk of forest fires at the same time reducing potential benefits to the local economy and revenue to communities from the Forest Products Trust Fund.

“Thousands of acres of off-road, interior damage remain at a time when impacted cities and towns are most in need of the added revenue salvage operations would bring as well as the cleanup essential for tourist recreational activities,” the letter stated.

Critical of the state’s revised policies on forest management on state land, Mr. Poirier said the forest and woods products industry has been adversely affected by the combination of the poor economy and the state’s moratorium on logging properties managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, including the Quabbin, Ware River and Wachusett watersheds.

“The Massachusetts Wood Producers Association is very concerned that as months pass by without initiating a serious forest restoration effort, the opportunity to salvage forest products economically is decreasing dramatically due to forest insects, diseases, and diminished quality of the timber,” Mr. Poirier said.

He said it was counterproductive for state agencies to pay tree service companies to remove damaged timber when the state could be making money by putting out bids and awarding contracts.

“This is a great opportunity for the public to experience and appreciate the value and skill of our forest-based economy, significantly damaged by the recent turmoil and visioning process,” Mr. Poirier said.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20111210%2FNEWS%2F112109968%2F1101%2Flocal

Driving on Route 169 the following Sunday, I think I saw every.single.patrol.truck that Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control owns. There was no good, close place for me to pull over for photo I will need to find that article — it was reported they were working to clean up a debris-clogged stream so it would cause flooding into homes should a rainstorm hit.

Article from today’s T&G:

SOUTHBRIDGE — Difficult to imagine, but the June 1 tornado that turned lives upside down here with winds approaching 200 miles per hour, has an upside.

For the majority of plant and animal species and the state biologists, foresters and naturalists who study them, the tornado’s path across 50 acres of the McKinstry Brook Wildlife Management Area, off Pleasant Street, is a dramatic example of instant habitat diversity – the very thing the state’s wildlife agency strives for on its properties.

John J. Scanlon, forester project leader for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said the uprooted and snapped off red oaks and white pines present a living laboratory in which the rapid succession of plant and animal species can be studied.

“Public site visits usually include a walking tour, stopping at points of interest along the way. We’ll get folks as close as possible to the tornado impact area and contrast the disturbed forest habitat with the undamaged forest of mature white pines and mixed hardwoods to the north and south of the tornado’s track,” he said.

William J. Davis, Central Wildlife District supervisor, said he was amazed at the initial look at damage with Mr. Scanlon and Brandon Kibbe, Division of Fisheries and Wildlife land acquisition agent.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Literally we crawled and climbed to get under, over or around the downed trees and debris,” Mr. Davis said.

“This certainly lays the groundwork for a most interesting site visit we’ve planned for the public in October where John will be talking about the forest response to this dramatic disturbance,” he added

Mr. Davis said the forest project leader has contacted the U.S. Forest Service and Harvard Forest, where dramatic disturbances have been replicated.

“I would think the only likely intervention on our part would be to reduce the risk of wildfire,” he said of Mr. Scanlon’s contact with the Department of Conservation and Recreation fire warden.

“From a human perspective, the tornado was a destructive, life-altering event. But from a wildlife perspective, it creates some tremendously valuable habitat,” Mr. Scanlon said.

He said a more widespread example of a natural disturbance making small changes in habitat would be the ice storm of December 2008.

“It caused nowhere near the damage of the tornado, but it did thin out the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. Add to the equation two consecutive years of very successful acorn production and what you have today is an abundance of red oak seedlings,” Mr. Scanlon said.

Oak seedlings typically don’t thrive in the near constant shade of trees that, in this instance, are 70 years old. But since the storm, with nothing blocking sunlight, we expect a thick cover of raspberries, oak seedlings, along with black birch, red maple, and white pine seedlings all vying for dominance, creating a canopy over the downed trees in as little as 3 to 5 years, he said.

“The standing, snapped-off tree trunks provide a perfect habitat for cavity-nesting birds – woodpeckers, some owls, chickadees, nuthatches, swallows and bluebirds. Beyond that, in the disturbed area we would expect to see an increase in shrub land birds, like the chestnut-sided warbler, prairie warbler, brown thrasher, Eastern towhee – all species that benefit from the new forest growth.

“Of course in any scenario there are winners and losers, and the losers in this case would be the forest-nesting birds, such as the ovenbird, wood thrush, tanagers and many of the warblers that thrive beneath a mature forest canopy,” the forester said.

Mr. Scanlon said the tornado swath through the wildlife management area ranged from 500 to 1,000 feet wide, and is bordered to the north and south by the same mixed pine and hardwood forest.

As for the larger mammals, the forester said white-tailed deer would have no trouble navigating the tornado area.

He said a study last winter during deep snow conditions found that deer were seeking out south-facing areas as well as the shelter of trees blown over, providing cover against the wind.

The most common den site for black bear in Massachusetts, Mr. Scanlon said, is a brush pile. Again, he added, the amount of vegetation on the ground over the 50 or so acres will be very attractive to black bear.

Despite the human tragedy and sense of loss in the wake of the tornado, the outlook for wildlife along the 39-mile track of the storm is positive.

While the tornado damage has resulted in stream blockage in some areas, Mr. Scanlon said he and others doing an initial survey were struck by the lack of impact on McKinstry Brook.

“The day of our visit, the brook was flowing clean, clear, unobstructed and looking down from trees that came down across the brook we could see what appeared to be brook trout. The trees falling across and straddling the brook for the most part are suspended over it, with very little debris in the stream itself. For brook trout, the conditions seem to be ideal, at least for the time being.”

Mr. Scanlon said the agency’s plan is not to conduct any timber salvage at the site, because of the high value of altered habitat.

The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife had planned a site visit for Aug. 11 but, given the continuing cleanup and recovery efforts on adjoining private property, has delayed the field trip until October.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110722/NEWS/107229802/1116

He said a more widespread example of a natural disturbance making small changes in habitat would be the ice storm of December 2008.

“It caused nowhere near the damage of the tornado, but it did thin out the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. Add to the equation two consecutive years of very successful acorn production and what you have today is an abundance of red oak seedlings,” Mr. Scanlon said.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110722/NEWS/107229802/1116

Oaks are well known for holding onto their leaves through winter and into the following spring — so these seedlings will contribute to elevated fire danger for several years to come, providing tinder fuels in the form of their dry leaves off the ground.

At old ranches and on some remaining farms near the foothills, one can see old barbed-wire-fence “pitch posts.” These relics of a bygone era artistically reveal some Colorado history and provide an interesting forestry lesson.

Pitch posts were cut and split from the dense and heavy wood of live pitchy trees. Pitch is a resin found in evergreen trees and it forms when trees are injured. When the injury is caused by heat from ground-surface, low-intensity forest fires, and the fire has not killed the tree, more sap is made. This resin then concentrates in outer layers of sap-wood.

Long ago, forest fires were started from lightning and often times by indigenous people. Native Americans knew that a flush of new and tender vegetation that sprouts after fire meant well-nourished game and thus better hunting. With no human effort to suppress forest fires, they were frequent, and trees were often injured by fire.

In those conditions, a “relatively young,” 150-year-old tree may have received fire damage three, four, five or more times in its lifetime. A living tree exposed to that many fires accumulates high concentrations of pitch all the way from its heartwood center out to the bark.

…

Back then, many forest fires persisted for months. These long-lasting fires took on a variety of day-to-day behavior, depending upon weather, terrain and fuel conditions in their path. Some fires smoldered underground for a long time as root fires, only to be rekindled with a strong, dry wind. Over centuries of time, subsequent fires affected miles and miles of forest, covering a wide range of aspects and elevations.

Archived here.

On changes to the forest:

As previously stated, forest cover in Rhode Island increased starting in the early 1800’s as abandoned farms reverted to forest. Continued farm abandonment, repeated clearing of forests for fuel, as well as forest fires kept a variety of age classes dispersed through Rhode Island’s landscape through the 1950’s. Since then, Rhode Island’s forest has matured, with 51 percent now in saw timber size class according to the most recent forest survey. The lack of young forest impacts species that need the unique nesting and feeding habitat that these early successional areas provide

And on preparedness:

13. Does RI have sufficient manpower, money, and resources to prevent or cope with a major forest fire?

The general consensus is that RI does not have the manpower, money, or resources to prevent or cope with a major forest fire.

Some observed problems are:

A. There is not enough manpower and it is perhaps not young enough for forest fire fighting within the rural volunteer fire companies.
B. There is insufficient training.
C. There are not enough vehicles and equipment.
D. Access roads into forests have been gated and allowed to become overgrown and inaccessible.
E. Due to insufficient manpower and funds, fire towers are no longer maintained and manned, except the very few remaining, during the most extreme fire danger periods.
F. There are more homes in or near forestlands and that increases the danger of fire and presents a higher risk of residential property damage, human injury, and loss of life.
G. There is a buildup of fuels on the ground and not all deep woods areas have water holes to supplement tanker trucks.

Some recommended solutions are:

A. More financial, technical, and material support, recruiting, training and equipping of rural
volunteer fire companies from town, State, and federal governments.
B. Development and distribution of a Comprehensive Mutual Aid Plan between volunteer and full-time fire departments, between towns, the State, including the RI National Guard, other states, and federal agencies. Chief David Shaw, of the Pascoag Fire Department, believes that the State Fire Chiefs Association is developing such a statewide plan that, in addition to fire, covers Emergency Medical Services and Hazardous Materials Response.
C. Providing manpower and resources for adequate resource management of private and State forestlands, and perhaps supervised, selective, timbering that could provide funds for forest management, clear fuel buildups, maintain water holes, and clear fire access roads into forests.
D. Creative ideas to keep fire towers open are to lease space on them to cell phone companies to hang their antennas and maintain them, or to rent the towers as overnight camp sights to hikers/campers.
E. Promote the passage of strict forest fire prevention laws, post them throughout forests, and enforce them.
F. Provide major forest fire prevention education, as in the “Smokey Bear” program in schools, through literature distribution, as part of general forestry education seminars, and through the media.
G. Encourage all persons, when traveling near or through forestlands, to carry cell phones and
report any evidence of forest fires immediately.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Voters reject funding; elect Becker, Briggs

RUTLAND —  Voters decisively rejected down all three money questions and re-elected incumbents in the town’s annual election yesterday.

Question 1, which sought a Proposition 2-1/2 override in the amount of $130,000 to fund the position of town administrator, failed 868-202.

Question 2, which sought an override in the amount of $525,000 in order to level-fund the municipal government services, also failed, 807-257.

Questions 3, which sought to exclude $2 million in debt for the ice storm cleanup costs from the levy limit also failed, 562-502.

Major Fires:
1930 — 34,700 acres in R.I.
1942 — 24,500 acres in R.I.
1951 — Acreage not specified

The 1930 and 1942 fires started in Connecticut.  1942 burned about 14,000 acres on the Connecticut side; unsure at this time how many burned in 1930.  From personal recollection of stories heard but not confirmed yet by research the ’51 fire burned generally the area between the 1930 and 1942 fires.

1935 — 63% of R.I. forested
1938 — Hurricane, eventually 80 million board feet of lumber salvaged
1953 — 64% forested; 281 million board feet standing
1998 — 59% forested; 1,316 million board feet standing

On a bit less land, the volume of trees in Rhode Island expand four fold in 45 years.  What that speaks directly to is the lack of “maturity” in the woods of 1953, which relates to forest fires.  Immature woods are brushier and more prone to hot fires and younger trees are more prone to lethal injuries to their bark.  As the forests mature, they become less likely to burn and more resistant to the impact of what does burn.

Halifax was struck by Hurricane Juan on 29 September 2003 with 100mph winds, with unofficial gusts to 145mph.

Hurricane intensity in northern waters

While hurricanes this far north tend to weaken their cyclonic wind speeds, they gain forward speed. This is a graphic of that effect from the 1938 Hurricane.(1)

We know historically the hurricanes are one of the major disturbances of forests, probably matched in the degree and geographic area only by ice storms.  Other severe disturbances like tornadoes, straight line winds, and microburts tend to affect much smaller geographic areas.

Here a few comments from 1938:

The combination of soggy ground, strong wind and the sail surface of a full complement of leaves proved too much and many shade and forest trees were broken or blown over by the hurricane. … Practically all older stands of white pine east of the Connecticut River were partially or completely destroyed.  Governor Wilbur Cross appointed committees to make recommendations dealing with Forest Fires, Timber Salvage and Forest Rehabilitation.  Austin Hawes, Hurricane Damaged Forests still a valuable state asset

The fire danger from the downed trees was regarded as a great peril.   The New England Forest Emergency Office was created by the U.S. Forest Serivce to coordinate the effort to mitigate the fire danger and salvage the lumber. United States Forest Service.  A pictorial report on the New England forest emergency project with notes on its operation.

The photo below is from the Harvard collection showing an untouched Pisgah Forest (NH) four years after the ’38 Hurricane, compared to salvaged forests in Petersham, MA and was retrieved from this site.  Keep in mind when reading their perspective (against salvage) that Pisgah and even Petersham are fairly high, cool areas that keep their snow covers later in the year then areas further south and east in New England, and at least with Pisgah are fairly isolated from homes and business.

1942 -- Aftermath of Hurricane of 1938

This is a contemporary report, from 70 miles east of Pisgah, in Lee, N.H. of the conditions of 1941 and looking forward to 1942:

FOREST FIRE WARDEN’S REPORT
The 1941 fire season was the worst on record in the State of New Hampshire.

More fires occurred, more 25 area was burned over, greater damage was done to our woodlands, higher losses were sustained in other real property burned and the cost of suppressing fires was greater.

There will, perhaps, never be more ideal conditions for fire than existed in 1941. A scarcity of rain left the forests in a highly inflammable condition. The accompanying high winds spread fires with almost light- ning rapidity through the parched forest lands. These conditions, coupled with human carelessness, made 1941 outstanding in the state’s forest fire record.

As we approach the 1942 fire season, we wonder just what may be in store for us. The woodlands are in as critical condition as they were last year, if not more so. Blown down trees still clutter sizable acreages of our woodland areas ; the increased tempo in lumbering operations due to war demands are each day adding to the fire hazard an ever increasing number of acres of slash land; and we face the coming fire season with greatly reduced personnel, due to the shifting of men from our small communities into the armed forces of the country and into defense industries.

If, however, everyone will be careful, if they will follow the rules and regulations laid out for the use of fire in and around woodlands, much of our difficulties will be eliminated — our fires kept few in number with a consequent saving of expense to town and state. There are so many possibilities for trouble this year it will require the whole-hearted and patriotic cooperation of everyone concerned if we are to avoid serious difficulties.

Persons hostile to the best interests of our country and subnormal individuals affected by the excitement of the times may easily cause tremendous confusion and disruption of local activities by deliberately starting fires in our woodlands. Suspicious circumstances connected with every fire should be made known to the proper authorities. Wardens and Deputies are being instructed this year to investigate all fires carefully. Parties at fault will be held strictly responsible. With our forces weakened, it becomes more necessary for everyone to comply with regulations which have been set up to govern the use of fire in our woodlands.

These are briefly as follows :

1. Secure a permit from your local forest fire warden to burn brush or other debris in or near woodlands, or where fire may be communicated to such lands, once the snow has left the ground. Violation of this requirement makes the responsible party liable.
a. To a fine not to exceed $500.00 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both.
b. To the town for expenses incurred by the warden in attending or extinguishing such fire.
c. For damage to abutting owners if fire runs upon abutters’ property.

2. DON’T drop or throw from any vehicle while same is upon a public highway or private way and DON’T drop, throw or otherwise deposit on or near woodlands any lighted match, cigar, cigarette, live ashes or any other substance liable to cause a fire. Violation of these prohibitions penalizes whoever is found guilty with a fine of not more than $25.00.

3. DON’T fail to promptly notify your local warden of any fires you see.

The 1941 fire record for Lee is as follows : Number of fires 12 Acreage burned 118 Cost of suppression . . . $757.40 No. of permits issued .

FRANK I. CALDWELL, Forest Fire Warden [, Lee, N.H.].
Retrieved 6 May 2009 from here.

Allowing a forest to “naturally” recover, and that’s a difficult word to define in a southern New England landscape where fire from man has played a role since the glaciers retreated, at the very least requires preparation and defense.  A single careless or deliberate spark in a pile of debris like the Pisgah picture above would ignite a long burning, intense fire that’s likely to seriously damage the organic matter in the soil below.  Good and sufficient fire breaks are needed to keep fires from the outside out, and keep intense fires on the inside from escaping.

Which brings us to this picture from Halifax, whih was taken at a fire which started, in the general the area were the big fire started the next day (archive).   These conditions certainly could be found among the worse of the December 2008 ice storm.

29 April 2009 Halifax Fire

That picture probably illustrates two of the keys in dealing with fires in the ice storm area — hoses and helicopters.  I suspect a third part would be bulldozers to quickly re-open forest roads if necessary.  In my town, in the wake of hurricanes or other severe wind events, we will use a front end loader in conjuction with chainsaws to quickly re-open roads for fire apparatus to pass.  On a major fire you may even see a need for dozers to actually build fire line to push dead brush back into the black.

There was another incident out of Halifax that’s good to keep in mind:

House being investigated for arson

…the investigation began after firefighters arrived at the house to battle the rapidly growing wildfire.

Firefighters realized there was a fire inside the house and “they saw stuff that made them believe that this was a suspicious fire,” he said.

“It didn’t take the investigator long to confirm that it was, indeed, suspicious.” Chronicle-Herald

If a pile like this is causing problems getting apparatus by it, or is throwing sparks over the flank you’re trying to make a fire line along, you’ll have to take the time to knock it down. During that time, the fire is extending in the woods.

December 2008 ice storm damage

Maybe Massachusetts should just lease a some more bulldozers for the next few seasons. How do you handle a brush fire burning in this mess on a dry, breezy day? It’s going to take a lot of hose work along with flanks to be sure.

December 2008 ice storm damage

Bulldozers and fire plows are not used much in New England compared to southern and western states.  The fires, terrain, and resources don’t tend to lend themselves to that style of firefighting.  Most landowners would throw a holy fit if you cut a fire line on their property with a bulldozer for our typical fires.

But they do exist. Massachusetts has one stationed in Plymouth, and Connecticut has one I believe out of Voluntown. Often, a relative term given the infrequent use, the dozers are tasked with constructing access roads to fires deep in the woods. For comparison, New Jersey runs some 20 dozers, most equipped with plows, while Maryland runs 19 dozer/plow units.

Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control bulldozer and fire plow

In addition to the structural engines, the forestry specific fire units in the area are:

Leicester currently runs three forestry units:
F1 — 2008 F-350 250gpm/225gwt/8foam
F2 — 2003 F-350 125/225
F3 — 2001 Freightliner 1250/1500/30

Paxton
F1 — 2006 F-550 250/300/10

Leicester, MA Forestry 3 (was F2 in this picture)

Approximately 80 acres of this area burned with enough intensity to kill / severely injure the canopy trees — this is highly unusual in southern New England in modern times.

Relative Humidity was low — 15-30% with northeast winds at 15mph gusting to 25mph. Showing how fast fire conditions can change in New England, only a week earlier heavy rains had crossed over southern New England, dumping between 1-1/2″ and 6″ of rain. The northeast winds portended the heavy rain that would move in on the morning of May second.

Since the fire this area was also on the edge of the December, 2008 ice storm. The impact was noticeable and would impact future operations but is not severe.

This is a map of the area from July, 2007 that shows the extensive severely burned area (the brown discolored areas). I’m eyeballing it to be about 80 acres, and the overall fire was put at 125 acres which I believe is reasonable — not all areas hit that stand killing intensity.

The fire appears to have originated south of this lane. The tree appears to have been snapped by the ice storm. A hang up like this one is a challenging one to cut safely, yet it also isn’t safe to allow forestry trucks to pass underneath — a situation that would delay access to fires along the lane in the future.

(There are smudges on the photos taken April 26, 2009 — I had water spots on my camera lens.)

Near the tail of the fire area was this tree, it’s main trunk killed by the extensive burning of it’s bark, which was “stump sprouting” new growth. Hundreds, probably thousands, of these small snags will stand for years to come, surrounded by the fine brush of regrowth.

This mountain laurel, judging from the standing dead trunk, was about 4′ tall when the fire burned. In areas the mountain laurel easily topped 6′. Like the snag in the previous picture, the dead trunk provides additional dry fuel that would intensify a future fire. Mountain laurel provided the fuel load that allowed the fire to be intense enough to kill the hardwood trees. You can read more about the fire ecology of mountain laurel here.

This is a mix of regrowing brush and some living and some fire killed overstory trees. When looking at these photos (click on them for the full size version) the tell tale sign of killed trees is the lack of the smallest branches — only the trunks and main branches remain.

A mix of living and dead trees. Approximately point “A” on the map. Fire potential here is elevated further by the lack of shade; while it may not be a critical difference in spring time this could contribute in summer and fall to the area being prone to larger, hotter fires then otherwise would occur. One of the big reasons for the decline in size and intensity of forest fires in southern New England is the success of previous generations in suppressing fires and allowing the forests to mature. While there are exceptions, in general the larger trees were more likely to survive while smaller trees were fatally injured by the flames.

More dead trees. Approximately point “B.” In the middle of the picture is the top of a white pine that broke off in the ice storm.

Many hardwood saplings coming up, I’m not sure what species these are — I should revisit later in the year when I can identify the leaves.

This is the first steep hillside — about a 30% grade. It’s also strewn with rocks, and soft soil — absolutely treacherous to walk over. The fire killed few if any trees on these steep slopes. My observation is there wasn’t much mountain laurel to provide dense amounts of fuel. From a tactical perspective, it would be near impossible to build a fire line through this mess and clambering over the terrain with an Indian Tank would be inviting a sprained ankle. Hose lines would work best, albeit slow to progress.

Looking towards the top of the hill you can see a mixture of killed trees and ice storm damage.

After a climb of 100′, we come to these flats (point “C” on the map), showing a mixture of fire and ice storm damage. The mountain laurel thickets started up again on the flats, providing the fuel for the stand killing intensity.

This picture is chilling to think of how quickly our forests could revert to this state by a combination of disturbances in quick succession — say a major hurricane followed by a few dry years and killing intensity fires burning through the slash. Like this patch, they would then be at increased risk for decades of additional fire disturbances until a mature forest can regrow.

At this point I intersected the woods road along which I took the photos in 2006. This is further west along that road, at point “D” on the map.

Looking through the woods you can see a steep rise — pushing 60% slope at parts — and then a flat area on top looking awful sparse. If you look at the map, that is the area of the most intense damage. My guess is the fire intensified from a combination of later in the day (more pre-heating), elevation (windier), and having a wider fire front. The destroyed mansion was located at the blue dot.

The woods road at this point passed through very tall, very dense mountain laurel — 6′ high or better judging from the dead trunks. Some trees had scorch marks and mushrooms growing in fire-killed bark 15′ above the ground.

The acronym LCES stands for Lookouts, Communication, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones. In this case a safety zone — ordinary hardwood duff, with it’s low, slow burning characteristics was only a hundred feet or so away in the hollow between this point at the steep hillside. However the mountain laurel looks like it would’ve been impenetrable to get there. It’s a place like this I fear seeing guys in structural bunker pants and ill fitting boots getting caught in southern New England, unable to move quickly enough down the trail to escape an oncoming fire.

Let’s review a few key pictures from the fire day itself. These were taken along the woods road at approximately point “E.” You can find more at my original write up here.

Yes, it burns! There was a small draw to the east of the road, so the fire had a uphill run to my location. I had gotten in here before I saw any firefighters or officers, so I’m not sure if they planned to make a stand here earlier or I just had good dumb luck in finding the spot.

Sturbridge working their forestry into location. This was a good location to make a stand — while you can see the higher mountain laurel in the background, between it and the fire picture above was much lower laurel — may 2′ high, probably a patch that burned years ago. They are cutting a hole in the brush to allow the unit to turn around so it can be headed out in case a quick retreat is needed. Additionally, a good safety zone is only a few dozen feet west of this location where the laurel suddenly ends and it is not so thick as to be able to be hard to move through.

Even if the picture is deceptive. We’re only on the edge of the thicket here.

Wildland gear is not standard issue in New England at this time. I honestly prefer the guy in a T-shirt, jeans, and workboots over having someone in completely inappropriate structural PPE on a woods fire — they are far more likely to seriously injure themselves from exhaustion or a fall due to wearing that gear then the guy in jeans, tee, and good boots is to burn himself. The guy wearing the good wildland guy isn’t a state guy either — it’s very unusual to see that level of complete wildland PPE on a municipal firefighter here, at best you usually see just a wildland shirt with jeans.

There is another crew working in from the railroad tracks who directly attacked the flank with a hoseline working up from the railroad tracks to the woods road (one the right or east side). One of these lines would be used to protect the Sturbridge’s position in case the fire got over the lines being made, and the other hose would be used to work a line to the left (west) of the road.

A well dressed firefighter making short work of the burning laurel. That’s an 1-1/8″ Massachusetts forestry hose line. From this point they started working the fire to the left, burning mostly in duff from here up the steep hill.

Later on, Sturbridge’s location quite safe, the crew moved from protecting it to stretching another line through the hollow to hellp with mop-up on top of the hill.

This picture shows the rather sparse laurel at this point and how easy it would be to get from the road to a safe area. This, I don’t believe, was true at point “D” as I mentioned above, where there was still a lot of thick laurel between the road and a safe zone.

I like the easy to carry bundles if you carry your hose that way. Give me a backpack though and I’d be happier.

Water supply for this area was established by Oxford laying in a 4000′ 5″ line with their reel truck. I don’t know if it was a consideration in the decision to lay a line, but by this point tankers were being used to support operations in residential areas threatened by the head of the fire.