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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2018)
Wednesday, June 6, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon BURNS: Visual impacts to be taken into account in planning Continued from page 1 burn overnight, we’re burn- ing in conditions that are out of prescription, frankly.” The burn boss inspected the Indian Ford burn area at 6 a.m. on Friday and all was under proper control. What looks like dead trees are usually not; local pon- derosa pine forests are fire- adapted and underburning is actually good for them, even when trunks get blackened and needles scorched. There is always some mortality on burns, within allowable spec- ifications, but the majority of trees will eventually green up again and be strong and healthy. Allowable scorching height is usually set at about 15 feet above ground. Reid said that the condi- tions on the Indian Ford burn were just what they were sup- posed to be. “What I saw, the fire behavior was perfect,” Reid reported. “What I saw on the east side was textbook.” An earlier burn in Camp Sherman last month did cre- ate some problems, Reid acknowledged. The burn was set in the triangle of land where the road into Camp Sherman forks, with the right fork leading to the head of the Metolius and the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery and the left fork taking motorists into the Metolius Meadows residen- tial area and Camp Sherman itself. Along that left fork, the 1419 Road, the burn was too intense. Trees are scorched up to the top, with some scorch- ing extending across the road, and some trees are severely blackened. “Along the road, it burned hotter than we would have liked,” Reid said. A team of new lighters moved too fast under pressure to complete the burn within its allotted time window. “We were going a little fast on our lighting,” Reid said. Smoke started impacting the road and the focus turned to traffic management and safety considerations. “That was the primary focus,” Reid said. “Some of our other objectives became secondary at that point.” The overall burn accomplished objectives. Unfortunately for all con- cerned, the part that burned too hot is the part that every- body sees. “Visually, that’s not what we want in there,” Reid said. “It’s a very visible spot… It’s a visual kind of shock to drive in there and see all those red needles.” Reid said there will be a monitoring report on the mortality levels in the burn to determine if they exceed acceptable levels of zero to 2 percent for trees larger than 21 inches in diameter. And he said that he thinks that visual impact in such areas needs to be incorpo- rated into burn plans to pre- vent such areas from being so hard hit by a burning mishap. — Serving all of Central Oregon — Sandy Goodsell Principal Broker Jonathan Hicks Broker ABR, CDPE, CIAS, GRI, SRES 541-480-0183 865-335-6104 LICENSED BROKERS IN THE STATE OF OREGON goodsellandhickssellcentralor.com 31 PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS A prescribed burn last month got too hot in an area along the 1419 Road in Camp Sherman, leaving the area more severely burned than planned.
