[pct-l] Denatured alcohol...

[RJ Lewis]

Great story, and good lesson to be learned from that. I would hope you 
don't get flamed or anything for sharing a true story with folks. 
Unfortunately, I'm up here in WA state, and things don't look much 
better for us up here this summer. Even up here on the side of the 
mountains where we normally see more rain than does the valley, it's 
already drying out far earlier than it did last year, which tells me 
that we are going to have a hot, dry summer, even here where it's 
generally fairly wet.
  I haven't made any decisions on 99% of my gear yet, and I plan on 
taking my time making some of the more important decisions about some of 
it, like my stove. Thanks a bunch for the input I'm reading now, its 
appreciated more than you know. We only had one major storm this winter, 
and last winter we had several-- by major I mean that we had to get out 
our generator for power for several days.....I'll be watching up here, 
and help keep you all apprised of the details....whoever is around, anyway.

Ronnie Jo




Donna Saufley wrote:
> AsABat,
>
> I'm hoping you will please do a favor for me, which is actually a favor for
> someone else that I won't be executing for reasons I know you will
> understand. 
>
> An intended thru-hiker inadvertently started a fire in '05 with his
> denatured alcohol stove.  It wasn't knocked over -- the long, snaking,
> invisible blue flame reached out and started brush on fire, even though he
> had cleared the area well and thought he had enough bare earth.  
>
> He's written his story to share so that other's may learn from it.  I've
> posted it below. I am hoping that you will communicate his message at ADZ.
> Thank you so much.
>
> L-Rod
>
>                                                             A Fire Story
>
>                                         Don’t Learn My Lesson the Hard Way
>
>      In mid-May while hiking the PCT in Cottonwood Canyon just north of I-10
> on a very hot and windy day I stopped for the night. After setting up my
> tent I cleared an area about three feet across of anything that might burn
> and started cooking my supper. For cooking I put an ounce or two of
> denatured alcohol in an old potted meat can. I have a wire stand for my pot
> and an aluminum wind screen. When my water starts boiling my practice is to
> lift my pot, move my wire stand and put the pot back on the can to put the
> fire out and save any unburned fuel. As I was doing this some grass outside
> my cleared area caught fire. I immediately jumped up and started stamping
> out flames and kicking dirt on them. It was no use. The flames spread faster
> than I could put them out and soon the fire was racing up the canyon out of
> my control. While I was trying to keep the fire from spreading downwind a
> small part of it spread upwind and burned part of my tent and my pack and
> some other equipment.  After what seemed a long time some firefighters came
> and put out the fire. Afterwards they told me that fifty acres of grass had
> burned. I feel very fortunate. Once that fire left my fire ring I had no
> control over whether it was fifty acres or fifty thousand or more
> importantly whether anyone (including the firefighters) was seriously
> injured or killed.
>
>      In the months since I have spent a lot of time thinking about why this
> fire happened and how to keep anything like this from happening to another
> hiker. I am a 58 year old grandfather. Young and reckless is not the
> problem. I have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and done most of it again
> in sections. Inexperience is not the problem. I am a pilot and a sailor. My
> collateral duty in the Marine Corps was Safety Officer. A casual attitude
> about safety issues is not the problem. I was not cooking in or around my
> tent or equipment.  I cleared off what I thought was a big enough ring and
> was as careful as I could be. No fuel was spilled. After the fire my pot was
> sitting on top of my stove which had unburned fuel inside. I thought I was
> being careful. I was wrong! What I know now is that my concept of the risk
> involved was purely theoretical. The reality is that on an average day in
> Southern California there is more risk of a serious fire that on the worst
> day I’ve ever seen at home on the East Coast or on the AT. When the
> temperature is over one hundred, the humidity is low and the wind is
> blowing, things dry out very quickly. Ironically in a year like this when
> there has been a lot of rain the risk is worse because there is more to
> burn. I’ve also considered the type of stove I was using and whether using
> my old MSR would have kept this from happening. I don’t believe it would
> have. What I know now is that I could not have been careful enough and the
> only sure way to keep this from happening was to eat a cold supper.
>
>      In California there are serious criminal and civil penalties for
> causing a fire like this. The personal feelings of guilt and remorse are
> serious as well. It is impossible to describe the helplessness I felt
> watching fire spread up that canyon. I can’t imagine what it would feel like
> had there been serious property damage or personal injury. I hope that
> others will read this and realize that if this happened to me it can happen
> to them. A pot of Lipton Noodles is not worth it. Please be careful!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
> On Behalf Of AsABat
> Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 4:55 PM
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Denatured alcohol...
>
> I also use alcohol stoves most of the time. However, some do seem to
> think if they don't see a flame they can pick it up. I've seen it.
> Hikers wear a lot of nylon, which melts and sticks to your skin when it
> burns. Be careful.
>
> A couple years ago a brush fire was started by thruhikers knocking over
> their alcohol stove into the brush. A stove is still a fire - that is,
> it has a flame - and therefore needs to be used only in a clearing. 
>
> During extreme fire danger, wood and charcoal fires are often banned in
> So Cal. A couple years ago they also banned stoves that could not be
> turned off, effectively banning the "Pepsi" style stoves. I suppose a
> Trangia might have been ok.
>
> In a past life I was a volunteer firefighter. I still volunteer with a
> couple sheriff civilian volunteer organizations, and still see the harm
> caused by fire, both to people and to nature. Be careful out there. It's
> going to be dry. (Although reported to be snowing at Onyx Summit near
> Big Bear this morning.)
>
> AsABat
>
>
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