Central Texas Fires

I'm a little shell shocked tonight. The images I've seen online from the Bastrop Fire are apocalyptical. Flames so high they make the cars look tiny. It is hard to grasp a fire that has burned 16 miles long and at least 4 miles wide, and leaped the Colorado River.

I've spent a lot of time over the years at Bastrop State Park. 2,000-3000 acres out of 6500 have burned. I took my Master Naturalist training at the Lost Pines Chapter. I have friends and family in the Bastrop area. One I've touched base with told me the fire was 2 miles from their home and they were packed and ready to go. I know that people I know are losing their homes tonight. While I grieve over the loses at Bastrop State Park and the potential loss of the historic CCC buildings there, that pales with the thought that early in the evening over 300 homes had burned. Homes with treasures, memorablia, family pictures, heirlooms, memories . . .

I also have friends in the Steiner Ranch area. I'm hoping their home is far enough to the east that their home will be spared. But tonight cannot be an easy night for them, not knowing what is happening to their home.

I have other friends that live in Spicewood, another area that has fires tonight.

I am grieving for what is lost, but praying that the winds are not as bad as forecast tomorrow and that God protects the firefighters as they battle through the night, that they are able to get these fires under control and . . . that God comfort and strengthen all those who have lost everything in these fires.

Tomorrow I'll try to post links to some of the more amazing footage and still photos that I've seen tonight.

NANPA - Texas Hill Country Regional Event-Block Creek Natural Area

Saturday morning started with a small thunderstorm just south of Fredericksburg. The ranches suggested that we wait until it passed. I went with Mike Murphy's landscape group. It was going to be 4-wheel drive territory, so I was happy to be a driver. I asked about whether we'd need 4 high or 4 low. He thought low, but it had just rained and the steep uphill was MUDDY - I ended up in 4-wheel low and we went right up that muddy hill!

Two weeks prior there had been a prescribed burn on another property that got out of control and burned through the Langford property. I was amazed at how many things were sprouting up through the ash! My afternoon photos show it better, but notice how much green grass is growing in the blackened ground. When I saw how the fire came up the valley and the ridges, I thought about how scary it must have been to watch that wildfire coming your way.



This yucca plant looks pretty burned, but look how much new growth is coming from the base:



There were several places where the fire left beautiful patterns in the wood in the trunks of the trees.



Fire is a natural process that helps clear out underbrush making way for new species. For photographers, this was a unique opportunity to enter a burn zone and photograph the leaves now yellowed, the blackend trunks and the sooty soil. Even though we were here in the spring, the yellowed leaves and cloudy weather makes this look more like a fall landscape.



I know that within the next couple of years, there will be so much new growth that this burned area will be transformed. I hope I get a chance to go back and see the beauty that will come from the flames.

It was still cloudy (a little on the dreary side in terms of lighting) so I knew that I was more likely to have luck with my Photographer's Canvas images.

This is my favorite of the ones I've worked so far. I went beyond what came out of the camera using two filters from Topaz to complete my vision.



My title for this one is "Dancing Trees" because I almost see human figures in these bent and twisted trunks.

Frisco Wildfire Part II

All over the Rocky Mountains, pine bark beetles are taking their toll on lodge pole pine forests. The red trees in this picture are dying. I'm planning a group of posts about the pine bark beetle, but the fire Saturday in Frisco illustrates the danger that many communities in the Rockies face.



This was really a small fire. Probably started by campers, it burned in a green and moist aspen and cheat grass area rather than hitting the dead pines nearby. However, you can see how close those dead pine trees were to the fire. And the fire started in an area where the firefighters had to hike in to get to it.



Traffic in I-70 was warned that a fire was near and that there might be smoke on the road. I was parked south of I-70. There was a steady stream of residents who pulled up to check on the fire. They were worried. The predictions are that Summit county will lose 95% of the lodgepole pines. While in Breckenridge, the law is requiring homeowners to remove the dead trees, the people I talked with seemed to think there was no plan in place in the national forests to remove the dead trees. The research I've done so far indicates that there is a small window when the trees that are harvested can be used. If you miss the window, the wood has deteriorated too far.




This was the scene at the worst part of the fire. Thankfully, the firefighters were helped by a helicopter with a 100 gallon bucket. By Sunday, only wisps of smoke were left. The damage from the fire was invisible from town. But this is fourth of July week, people are nervous about fireworks and are expecting a burn ban.




From the Summit Daily News comes this warning from Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Jeff Berino: "we want people to really be aware of the dangers we are facing this season, and that it is now a matter of when, not if, we will have a big wildfire.”


The fire Saturday only burned a couple of acres. But this is early in the season. As the snow melt ends, and everything dries out in the warmth of summer, the Rockies are a powder keg waiting to erupt.

Frisco Wildfire

My next blog post was going to be the beginning of a series about the issues in Summit County, Colorado dealing with pine bark beetles. However, as I went into Frisco to do some shopping for my condo, I saw a small fire on the mountain just north of I-70. After I made my purchase I went over to investigate. After finding a good vantage point, I spent the next several hours watching the fire, talking with people who live in the area, and photographing the event.







Tomorrow I'll post more of the photos of the fire. I was most impressed with the helicopter pilot. He first carefully surveyed the scene - making several sweeps. Then his first drop intentionally watered the area around the fire. And then he progressively got closer and closer to make very accurate drops where the fire was the hottest.