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Got to help put some #goodfire on the ground at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve yesterday. Kudos to @Pyrogeographer for having the vision and championing a fire-forward land management program @chicostate!
Conditions were mild, 65° and about 25-30% humidity. Shaded areas under live oal didn't carry fire without taller grass or fluffy leaf litter.
The burn window was narrow, from about 11am until 3pm. A slight up slope wind around 2pm helped carry fire, especially on sunny slopes. This was a hot as things got. A lot of places wouldn't carry fire at all.
The unit is 70 acres. We blacklined yesterday, and got some burning into the interior.
The crews lit the rest of the unit today.
The crews lit the rest of the unit today.
Firestorm and CSUC Reserves provided Type VI engines, Cal Fire sent a Type III. Terra Fuego provided a burn boss, and The Watershed Center sent Miller Bailey as burn boss trainee. Butte and Feather River RCD sent staff, as did Plumas Firesafe Council.
I worked as a fire effects monitor and weather-slinger. I trained a CSUC Reserves land steward, and we both got some torch time in the middle of the day. There is a real diversity of vegetation on the Reserve, it's a great place to teach.
Even though the burn site is in the bottom of a deep, wild canyon, it really is WUI, right beneath inaccessible crags that lead up to expensive ridgetop homes. With proper care and preparation, it IS possible to work in these sorts of 'high-consequence' locations.
The canyon bottoms and side-slopes in Big Chico Creek and Butte Creek are relatively sheltered from north and east winds, and events which trigger red-flag warnings regionally don't necessarily affect the canyon bottoms. Nevertheless, all burning usually gets shut down.
