[pct-l] Please stop burning up our trail - PCT closure San

[Sean 'Miner' Nordeen]

>>Why wouldn't that be true of any hiker stove?  Don't they all have open flames?  

During the summer months after everything has turned brown, many areas in SoCal often have fire restrictions against any stove without a shutoff valve and no open fires allowed (meaning only cannister/white gas type stoves allowed).  The reason that they make this distinction is becaues a cannister stove can be shut off immediately if there is a problem.  As an example, an alcohol stove can be kicked over and the burning fluid spills out over a wider area igniting the vegetation.  There is no way of shutting the burning alcohol off.  In the case of a cannister stove, it can be uprighted and turned off and is less likely to ignite a wider fire.  Both are capable of starting a wildfire, but one is more likely to as you have less control over it.   And before you say, "But", just be aware that any stove of any type can be banned during really bad fire conditions that SoCal can see in late summer/early fall when we get really high winds on vegeation that hasn't seen rain in 7-9months.  Hikers are fortunate that currently the fire restrctions in spring are usually more relaxed then summer.  It would be nice if they could remain that way.

-Miner



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