[pct-l] FIRES IN GENERAL -- was Denatured alcohol...

[christin pruett]

One shouldn't forget that fire is a natural part of all ecosystems. It is 
the knee jerk reaction of 100 plus years of fire suppression that has caused 
many of the problems associated with wildfire. For more info check out:

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~iffa/fire1.htm
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/fire/ucsbfire.html
http://www.suttoncenter.org/2006%20Reinking%20Birding.pdf

That being said fire should be used as a management tool and carefully 
controlled so it doesn't cause loss of property or life.

I hiked California in 2004 and was about 2 weeks behind the hiker started 
fire. I was pretty happy with my choice to eat cold until the High Sierra. 
Because as was stated below - the wind can blow really, really hard in 
southern California and I could see a fire getting away from even the most 
careful hiker when a gust of 30 or 40mph comes along.

Good luck class of '07 especially you Monty! (I hiked with Monty for about a 
month in 2004 and I seem to recall that he carried a bear proof container 
through the Sierra???).

Oh and just wanted to thank you L-Rod and your hubby for being the best 
trail angels on either coast. Hope everyone has a great summer of adventure 
and that any fires started are prescribed burns.

Christy


Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:30:33 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: dsaufley at sprynet.com
Subject: Re: [pct-l] FIRES IN GENERAL -- was Denatured alcohol...
	safest of the unsafe?
To: paul at bluebrain.ca, Edward Babao <babao.edward at gmail.com>,
	'AsABat' <AsABat at 4Jeffrey.Net>, csxii at schizoaffective.org
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID:
	<10204208.1174584633690.JavaMail.root at mswamui-cedar.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

PLEASE NOTE:  THIS THREAD IS NOT JUST RELATED TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.  IT IS
RELATED TO THE ENTIRE PCT.  FIRES IN NO. CAL AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST HAVE 
BEEN
EQUALLY DEVASTATING AND COMMON.

I have been completely stunned at the number of hikers who are building
CAMPFIRES every night, regardless of where they are on the trail.  We, who 
have
seen incredible loss of wildlife habitat, homes, and peoples lives and
livelihoods, cannot believe that hikers come out here and build campfires,
oblivious to the hazards.  Not only are they creating illegal fire rings, 
they
risk more than they can ever imagine personally and financially should one 
tiny
thing go wrong and get out of control.

Firefighting officials in our area are aware of the hiker traffic, and when 
a
brush fire was started two years ago before the tunnel going under the 14
freeway, the Fire Marshall came to our house looking for hikers.  
Thankfully,
there had been none, and the source of the fire was something else.  Hikers
trying to escape from fires they'd started (yes, this has happened) were
searched for by authorities, and other hikers were questionned.  THEY WILL
CHARGE YOU FOR THE COST OF FIGHTING ANY FIRE, AND FOR ANY LOSSES THAT MAY BE
SUFFERED, EVEN IF IT'S ACCIDENTAL.  This can amount to MILLION$, literally.
This can be more than hike ending.  It can be life ending.

Now, back to the denatured alcohol thing:

In my observations, the stability of the soda can stoves using denatured 
alcohol
is only one consideration.  The snaking, traveling manner of the denatured 
flame
is the other dangerous aspect.  Where there is light, you cannot see this 
flame,
which can lick out one foot routinely, in any direction.  It's 
uncontrollable.
Many hikers make camp, cook, and eat before it gets dark, and cannot see 
this
flame, so become forgetful of it.

When things are really dry, it feels like the brush could spontaneously 
combust.
It doesn't take much -- like the spark from a lawnmower blade striking a 
rock --
to start brushfires.  Folks who come from more humid areas of the country 
tend
to be unaware of the difference, and do things (like burn toilet paper) that 
may
be okay elsewhere, but are really, really, dangerous in the West.

The dry desert winds are blowing again today, clearing out all the bit of
moisture we had in the last few days.  The brush can be bone dry within 
hours,
even though it was soggy this morning.

The sad thing is, the people who really need to hear this message are 
probably
not on this post.

L-Rod

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