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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Pagami Fire tidbits
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| Sierra1 |
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| WhereRwe |
Thanks! |
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| TLAC5748 |
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| realandrea |
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| inspector13 |
quote WhereRwe: "I am wondering if anyone knows what EP's where effected by this fire? I am thinking about taking a trip early next spring and think it would be interesting to see this area then. Any info on what EP's where hit the hardest or lakes that where hit the hardest is appreciated. Well, it would depend on the route taken, but the most effected would typically start from EPs 30, 35, 37, 67, and 75. There is a map linked in one of these threads. |
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| paddlefamily |
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| kanoes |
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| BWPaddler |
quote kanoes: "hmmm....i was informed that some of the sites on alpine WERE protected for fire crew use." Suppose it could be different answers from different USFS people. Wasn't necessarily an official opinion, just what one USFS employee told me. It would make sense to preserve a working area for crew, as I also heard they try to follow the LNT policy WHILE fighting the fire - including staying at existing sites. |
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| BWPaddler |
USFS person said they were nervous with that south wind, as they didn't want that fire to get into the blowdown area. I forgot to ask the official fire media person the same question - about how the weekend of wind had affected things. |
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| BWPaddler |
- "grass" already found in some places 2-3" long - wolf tracks seen in burned areas - deer seen in burned areas - frogs seen in burned areas - so many jackpine seeds have burst open that they are floating on top of the water (implication=wind blowing them everywhere) - burn is a haphazard patchwork pattern with a few intensely burned areas - fire often stops at campsites because our human activity has impacted the earth so much and removed so much fuel, the fire simply stops (I had seen this phenomenon in the Ham Lake burn area and asked if they purposely doused campsites with water or something to save them... answer NO, it happens "naturally") - "containment" strategies include exposives, sometimes blasting a path through the forest 1/2 mile long - as many as 200 firefighting canoes have been in there at one time - ash is on top of duff and is incredibly slippery, making it hard sometimes to even remain upright We got to watch videos of both planes and helicopters picking up water and dropping it on the fire. There was a detailed map showing black lines of containment around the fire and red lines that were still "open" areas of the fire. Everyone was friendly and informative. I was very glad we had stopped in and asked. Initially I figured they would be too busy to talk fire with tourists, but that was NOT the case. |
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| ducks |
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| fitgers1 |
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| Ho Ho |
I'm really glad to hear that the burned areas are a patchwork. I was kind of thinking that, and some of the pictures I've seen suggest it's the case, but others show more intense and uniform burning. The explanation for why campsites don't burn as readily is really interesting, and makes sense once you think about it. I'm sure they do extra precautions for sites being used by fire crews, but there are hundreds of sites in the fire area, so most of them have to "protect" themselves "naturally." |
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| sunnybear09 |
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| BWPaddler |
In any case, when you go to the ranger station, they had a sign out front saying Pagami Creek Fire Information, and the small conference room to the left of the restrooms was devoted to "information". When we stopped in, there were several people "free" to discuss anything we were interested in. Bonus! I would have liked to ask them more about how fighting a wildfire around so much water is different from where the special teams come from... the spokesperson was from southern Colorado on Monday - surely some vast differences around our lakes than his rivers/streams. The USFS person we talked to had lost her own family home to fire in Isabella at the age of 12... so fire was pretty personal for her, yet she was excited about the new beginnings and accepted it easily as part of a natural process. |
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| BWPaddler |
quote ducks: "We exited at Sawbill on Monday (3rd) morning and hit the Sawbill store for some souvenirs for the kiddos before heading home. We were the only ones in the store and got to talk to Bill for about half an hour. Very interesting and informative conversation about the whole thing from his point of view. I feel very fortunate to have been able to have talked to him that morning." Yes, that would be some discussion. Bill has a unique experience (understatement!) based on his position there... glad he and his business are safe! Do you want to share anything you guys discussed? I'd love to hear it. |
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| drnatus |
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| ducks |
BWPaddler: I know you would have enjoyed this part. He talked a lot about the importance of getting kids into the bdub. We had fun sharing stories about times we've each had our own kiddos in the bwca. |
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| ducks |
quote BWPaddler: "quote ducks: "We exited at Sawbill on Monday (3rd) morning and hit the Sawbill store for some souvenirs for the kiddos before heading home. We were the only ones in the store and got to talk to Bill for about half an hour. Very interesting and informative conversation about the whole thing from his point of view. I feel very fortunate to have been able to have talked to him that morning." Very unique indeed and I don't even know where to begin. He had a lot to say. He talked a lot about how crazy that day obviously was and how it was like no other. He said that there was an 80% chance of rain that ended up missing the area and they were switching from one fire crew to another the day the fire went out of control. He also talked about how unreal that fire was and how the extreme computer fire models used by the experts didn't even come close to what this fire did. He said there is now a "new" computer model. When word got from the ground up to the planes that the south side of Insula was on fire they said that it was impossible based on the fire models and were shocked when they flew over there to check it out. It was very interesting listening to him talk about their fire protection. Their sprinkler system is double what is recommended, the way the buildings are built, that little clearing in front of the store where they have the example of a hung pack isn't there just for looks :). They ran portable sprinkler lines through the campground so at least some trees would maybe be saved if the fire came so it wouldn't end up looking like the Iron Lake campground on the gunflint. He also talked about how stressful things like that fire are part of the package of living there. |
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| willys54 |
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| BWPaddler |
I was also told: USFS ranger - one casualty, broken leg from a deadfall Fire "information" leader - total of 4 minor injuries to date Either one is amazing when you think about it. |
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| WhereRwe |
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| LoneWolf |
quote BWPaddler: "burn is a haphazard patchwork pattern with a few intensely burned " Thanks for tidbits, BWPaddler. I remember from the time I spent in Yellowstone after the big burn in '88 that it burned in what they called a "mosaic" pattern. Some areas burned then the wind and fire factors would make it jump and leave areas un-burned. |