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Fire on the mountain

| 31 Dec 2013 | 03:37
    A fireman heading to a staging area on Mt Eve Road after working to extinguish a fire at the top of Mt Eve.
    A fireman heading to a staging area on Mt Eve Road after working to extinguish a fire at the top of Mt Eve.
    Smoke rising from the fire at the top of Mt Eve.
    Smoke rising from the fire at the top of Mt Eve.
    Fire on the mountain
    A Warwick Fire District all terrain vehicle head back toward the fire.
    A Warwick Fire District all terrain vehicle head back toward the fire.
    Fire on the mountain
    Fire on the mountain
    Fire on the mountain
    New York State Forest Rangers, our equivalent of the west’s specialized hotshot crews, eventually decide to fight fire with fire. Firefighters dig a barrier around the fire, using a bulldozer in some places and guys with chainsaws and rakes in others. In what’s called a back burn, they light their own fire at the base of Mt. Eve, between the perimeter and the existing blaze, getting rid of all the fire’s potential fuel. As they are raking and cutting, they come across something unexpected: remnants of an old bulldozed fire line, from the last time Mt. Eve burned.
    New York State Forest Rangers, our equivalent of the west’s specialized hotshot crews, eventually decide to fight fire with fire. Firefighters dig a barrier around the fire, using a bulldozer in some places and guys with chainsaws and rakes in others. In what’s called a back burn, they light their own fire at the base of Mt. Eve, between the perimeter and the existing blaze, getting rid of all the fire’s potential fuel. As they are raking and cutting, they come across something unexpected: remnants of an old bulldozed fire line, from the last time Mt. Eve burned.
    Fire on the mountain
    Fire on the mountain



What started with a campfire that wasn’t properly put out turned into a wildfire that smoldered for over a month, burned 140 acres of woods and engaged 25 firefighting companies. For those who watched Mt. Eve light up night after October night, it felt like a witnessing our own little bit of history.

But this fire wasn’t a first, nor will it be a last. Those who’ve lived here long enough will remember that Mt. Eve burned in the late eighties. That time, too, people parked their cars along a cow fence to watch -- as man has been doing (minus the cars) since the beginning of time. The eastern Hudson Valley has been burning since before we were around to fail to heed Smoky Bear. Before lighters, before matches, lightning did the job.

“We even have a different forest type,” said Forest Ranger Captain Dan Walsh, of the NYS Department of Conservation, who fought both the last two fires on Mt. Eve. “It has evolved in response to frequent fires.” Our tree species, like cartain oaks and pines, actually require the heat of a fire to activate the seeds from underneath their cones, he said.

“It will happen again in 10 or 20 years, I guarantee it,” said Walsh.