My tenure with DEC didn’t last very long as I went on to pursue other careers but as it turns out there were some aspects of my state employment that provided some lasting impressions. As a wildlife technician I worked out of the region 1 office in Stony Brook, NY. It was 1997 – 1 year after the devastating wildfires crisped much of the south shore and 3 years after the tragic wildfire on Storm King Mountain, Colorado where 14 firefighters lost their lives. I recall driving on Sunrise Highway where the fire had “jumped” across and couldn’t help but be amazed at the distance – from tree line to tree line including wide grassy shoulders, 2 stretches of two lane pavement and a sizeable median totaling over 500 feet! After nature’s destructive tendencies left Long Island in charred ruins DEC took a more proactive approach in training the next generation of forest fire fighters of which I was a beneficiary. Once certified we could even be dispatched to other states just as other state and federal crews rolled in to help save our natural resources.
The classroom instruction part, taught by a forest ranger started out with the phrase “one foot in the black” which basically meant always have one foot in a safety zone. “The black” in forest fire lore is any area that has already been burnt out and where the fire cannot harm you – even if you have to actually set a fire to create the safety zone for yourself. Safety was the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. Other important aspects were the types of wildfires and a HUGE emphasis on the weather since it plays a major role in fighting a forest fire. Lastly, was the organization used which is not unlike military precision with various crews being instructed in the different stages of fire suppression. All of the instruction centered on the fire triangle consisting of heat, oxygen and fuel and removing any one of the legs will snuff out any forest fire.
Then came the really fun part: practicing outside cutting a fire line (or firebreak). We were taught that the width of the fire line needed to be a minimum of 1 1/2 X the flame length. The idea behind cutting firebreaks is to contain the fire within an area where it can’t cross over. Fire lines can be cut in several ways including dozers (depending on the area – some national forests don’t allow vehicles) setting “backfires” to burn out fuel and believe it or not dynamite as well as incorporating features of the land like creeks and roads. Most fire line is cut with hand tools including shovels, chainsaws, picks and axes. What most people don’t realize is even with hand crew tools every piec of equipment, including the shovels, has a razor sharp edge!
Nine out of 10 forest fires are contained by the various levels of “hotshot” crews. The elite level of forest fire fighters are the smokejumpers that parachute onto a fire. Usually they are the first on the scene to not only attempt to control a fire but also assess the danger level of a given fire. Fire crews are like family and the job is taken VERY seriously. There ain’t no slackers on a fire crew – if you’re on one you are WORKING! If anything kids should be looking up to these guys as heroes. Not only are most of the guys the epitome of go-getters thinking positively with a “can-do” attitude about every fire but these are the men and women you want watching your back. On Storm King Mountain crew chief Don Mackey gave his own life to try and warn and save not only his crew but another further up the trail as the fire swept up the mountain at over 100 mph taking the lives of 13 others.
Author John Maclean wrote a fantastic book called “Fire on the Mountain” that sought to get to the bottom of the worst tragedy (Storm King) in forest fire fighting history. Also, the discovery channel put out a video called “Raging Planet: Fire” which highlighted not only the types of forest fires but all the equipment and techniques used in modern forest fire fighting including aircraft.
Forest fires aren’t all bad though. In spite of the destruction they can leave in their wake they do have beneficial qualities. Once an area is burned out the ashes left behind hold all the nutrients and return them to the soil. Also, fires reverse forest succession allowing a new forest to develop. Over generations some plant species have developed protections and even favorable adaptations to fire. For example, the pitch pine (a resident of the Albany Pine Barrens) has developed thick bark, needles sprouting from the stem and cones that are serotinous which means they only open and spread their seeds in response to the high heat of a forest fire.
In some areas like our own Pine Barrens a “controlled or prescribed burn” is used to burn out fuel and underbrush so that should a natural fire take place there won’t be much left to burn and can thus be contained quickly with all the residential areas surrounding this unique ecosystem. As far as wildlife is concerned in a forest fire is the pinnacle in demonstrating evolution and natural selection. Those that can run do so and those that can’t can try and bury themselves to avoid the flames but ultimately if they can’t get away their genes don’t get passed on. The following links help describe fire management at the state and federal level.