Fire update

Alright, as of 2:00 a new map of the fire was relesed and it is growing larger to the east, the worst direction it could go but also the most predictable. As of now it is getting within striking distance of Gunflint lodge and other iconic destinations. Word is that winds are steady at around 15mph, and there is no real rain in sight.

I have made a Google Map to give every one reference to where some things are relative to this fire. If you click on the link, you will see a large area in red, that is the location of the current Ham lake fire. The area in yellow is the fire that alarmed every one last year. If you click on the way points you will find Gunflint lodge to the west, trail center in the middle, and our cabin on the left. As you can see, the fire would have to consume a large amount of area to even start to become a real threat to our land. As always, the real threat lies for us in a fire not yet started, but thats a different story.

This fire, and the larger fires of 2005 and 2006, shows that there are only 2 ways to effectively stop a fire in an area like the BWCA - if the fire runs into an already burned area, or rain. The best we can do is burn little pachas (controlled burns for property sake) and put up sprinklers around our cabins and houses to let big fires like this skip over. I think people have to come to terms with a patchwork forest, where there are areas of recent fire, new growth, and more established areas where fire is most likely. Right now, vast swaths of the region have tree systems that are the same age, wind damaged, and spruce filled. This equals fire. No amount of rotting will ever catch up.

So for me, its a story of 'how I stopped worrying and learned to love the fire.' Burnt areas are described routinely as devastated, destroyed, and ruined. And I understand that feeling. We become so attached to a place as we experience and their unique beauty. However go look at a forest a year, two years, five years after fire. You have a beautiful forest that is exploding with growth. The energy that has been trapped in the standing trees is freed up and the speed at which new trees come back is several times their normal rate. Trees like jackpine need fire to reproduce, and birch trees actually encourage the fire with their paper bark so their offspring (well, clone) will grow up out of their root system with no competition for light. So don't think the end of the trail is "ruined" now that fire has passed over it. Think of it as part of the place, and an opportunity to see a way the forest up there is meant to be.

Oh, and to get a sprinkler system. As silly as it is to have lawn sprinklers perched around the woods they still have a 100% success rate in this fire. Amazing.