Hello from the Bar 717 Ranch,
We have been hosting fire camp here at the ranch since August 24th. It’s great to be able to support the crews who have been working hard to get containment lines in place for the Monument Fire.
The fire remains active in the eastern portion of the Pattison Peak Roadless Area, across Hayfork Creek from the ranch and a few miles to the north east from us. This is the same country that burned in the 2008 Miners Fire. The fire behavior in this area has been more of a slow progression rather than the faster spread which occurred on other portions of the fire.
In the steep and rugged country we have here in Trinity County, the vast majority of the fire lines that get built are “indirect” lines. Indirect lines are not designed to directly stop the fire, but rather they are an inflammable ribbon from which to light a back burn that will (hopefully!) stay on the right side of the line and burn up the fuel between the line and the approaching fire front. Dozers or hand crews first scrape away the burnable stuff (forest duff, leaves, grass, sticks and brush), getting down to the inflammable stuff (mineral soil). Then fuels on the side of the line that is not going to burn are ‘treated’, basically just pruned back or mowed down so as to be less receptive to embers that might be cast over the line when the fire is nearby. Then, when the environmental conditions are favorable, the fire crews use drip torches to light off the back burn.
Firefighting crews have been using heavy equipment to reopen existing primary and contingency lines in the area. The Gates Mountain and Pattison Peak dozer work was completed then masticators and hand crews followed up to brush out and widen the lines so they are fully prepped to burn from. Currently, these are the only complete lines between the ranch and the fire front. The weather, wind, and available fuel will determine if and when the crews burn from these lines, or whether they can build additional hand lines closer to the fire front.
We’ll keep you updated!
Kent