Better Late Than Never

Day 180: Happy First Day of Skunk Cabbage, at least officially, as far as I am concerned. I've seen a few tiny yellow tips prior to this, and have been unwilling to spend $20 on gas to get to my favourite bog just to take one photo, although I'm sure they're in bloom by Swofford Pond. This year's selection came from a small patch on Lillie Dale Road which is largely overgrown with grass. The grass hides extremely soggy ground, so I had to content myself with zooming in for this shot. Even so, the distinctive skunky fragrance (which, incidentally, I find quite enjoyable) filled the air. It wouldn't have been spring without Skunk Cabbage.

Good Mourning!

Day 18: What's the appropriate salutation for Hallowe'en? Why, "Good mourning," of course! You might find this odd, but as much as I enjoy costuming, Hallowe'en is one of my least favourite holidays. I don't understand it. Perhaps I was oblivious to the way adults celebrated it when I was a kid, but I don't recall as much emphasis on ghoulishness, gore and horror as there is in current times. The costumes of my youth were deliciously scary, not gruesome: cute witches, ghosts haunting in sheets, the occasional vampire. Most were cleverly cobbled together from items around the home rather than store-bought, mass-produced garb you see today. I remember attending one junior-high dance as Huckleberry Finn in tattered jeans and painted freckles, straw hat on my head, fishing pole over my shoulder, and a dead fish (real, bound in plastic wrap) in my hip pocket. I accidentally sat on the fish and although I hadn't expected any of the boys to ask me to dance, social pariah that I was, my math teacher spun me through a ballroom waltz despite the fishy scent which must have surrounded me.

These days, I don't open my door to strangers. In rural Pierce County, you don't open your door for someone you don't know even in broad daylight, let alone at night. When I used to go to my fishing buddy's home for Hallowe'en, I was surprised to find that most of the trick-or-treaters were between 12 and 16, and only a few had bothered to dress up. Eleven was considered too old for trick-or-treating fifty years ago.

When the Nisqually Land Trust hosted their annual Hallowe'en tree-planting, the flyer said, "Costumes optional." In the past, this event has been billed as the "zombie planting," presumably because as a zombie, you can get absolutely filthy and it just improves the effect. That said, I now have a greater sympathy for zombies, especially those in the Pacific Northwest where the blackberry vines are in league to pull them back into their graves as they search for brains.

First Day Of Skunk Cabbage

Day 156: Besides being St. Patrick's Day and in my book more importantly, yesterday proved to be the First Day of Skunk Cabbage. As many of you know, this is one of my annual celebrations. This Arum was my mother's favourite flower, and when it came into bloom each spring, she would pick a single blossom and put it in a vase in the center of the dining room table. Its odor is reminiscent of the animal which gives it its common name, but that was no deterrent. In fact, once you have become accustomed to it, it speaks of clean air. Putting aside my mother's custom of plucking the flower, I begin watching the bogs in late February despite not expecting to see yellow until mid-March, but when the first blooms appear, I go hunting with my camera. Yesterday's local specimens were still quite small, so another foray will be in order to a favourite spot by Swofford Pond, this time with rubber boots instead of trainers. Ah, but the sacrifice was worth it to celebrate the First Day of Skunk Cabbage! Happy Spring!

Burning At Both Ends

Day 6: Finally! Inciweb has not updated their website since September 9, but today when I visited Lillie Dale Road, I found on display a new map and current information regarding the Alder Lake Fire. As of October 16, eleven crew members from Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Department of Natural Resources are on site. The fire is 45% contained, and now encompasses 360 acres.

We have had some precipitation, but not nearly enough. As the bulletin phrased it, "Despite recent moisture, interior areas and the west and east flanks of the fire continue to burn, exhibiting low rates of spread but high consumption of the available fuels. Smoke will be visible as fuels dry out and continue to burn. Smoke will continue to be visible until significant precipitation is received." In other words, it's still a hot, smoky fire, but it's travelling slowly. Unfortunately, it is still most active in terrain which is inaccessible.

If there's one bit of good news in this report, it's that the new map is rightside-up.

Kicking Up Again - Alder Lake Fire

Day 345: As predicted, the Alder Lake Fire seems to be kicking up again on both ends, most spectacularly on the east end where it appears to have come down a drainage to meet the 74 Road. That said, the InciWeb site has still not been updated (the last post was September 9), and the PIOs have been pulled from duty, taking their interpretive materials with them. I would hope that with an increase in fire behaviour, there would be some public communication soon, if only to mollify people who will likely assume that the fire has gone out of control. To the best of my knowledge, that is not the case. As the fire burns toward established lines, there is bound to be an increase in the number of smoky days.

Alder Lake Fire At 8 Weeks

Day 340: The Alder Lake Fire began with a lightning strike on July 26th at approximately 5 PM. The time is known because lightning activity was recorded by a weather satellite in the exact location where the first smoke was observed and reported on August 11th. On Sunday, just two days from today, it will have been burning for eight weeks and, as you can see by comparing these photos with the panorama I posted on September 6th, there hasn't been much change in the last two weeks. In fact, no updates have been posted to InciWeb since September 9th. In this case, no news is not good news. Due to the fire's current inaccessibility, it may simply smoulder all winter, waiting to burst back into flame when the forest dries out again.

Fire aside, I learned why the reservoir has been low all summer when it's normally filled for recreational use. Tacoma Power is required to discharge through the spillway a specified volume of water (measured in cubic feet per second) to ensure enough flow for salmon habitat in the lower Nisqually River. If they fail to do so, they must pay substantial fines. If we don't get some rain soon, the lake may drop to a record low.

Fire Status

Click to enlarge panorama

Day 328: A number of people have asked me for a status report on the Alder Lake Fire, given that we've had cool temperatures and some substantial precipitation. You might assume that was what the firefighters were hoping would happen, but in fact, the opposite is true. You see, the fire is burning in inaccessible terrain where the forest duff is eighteen inches to five feet deep, creating a bed of smouldering debris which could reignite at any minute until it burns itself out of fuel. Since the fire cannot be combated on its own turf (bad pun, I know), the firefighters want it to come to them. They want it to progress to the fire lines they're creating with bulldozers and saws. Only then will it be "contained," i.e., walled off inside a "big box" of fuelless ground. The precipitation has prevented the fire from advancing, but that is quite a different matter than putting it out. Even a heavy fall of snow might fail to extinguish it completely. It's not unheard of for a fire to rekindle a year later. In fact, that happened during one fire on the Olympic Peninsula.

As you can see from this 11-panel panorama, not much has changed in the last several days. The fire still stands at 280 acres, and crews have it 17% contained. With drier weather and warmer temperatures coming toward the end of next week, fire behaviour is expected to increase. While this may please the firefighters who, it must be said, are probably anxious to see the end of this so they can go home to their families, it means that we're liable to get smoky again.

In related news, Public Information Officer David finished out his tour, but before he left, he came up with a solution to the map issue. I hope the new PIO continues in the same vein.

Wrongside Up Larry

Day 322: Okay, okay...I admit it. I'm being unduly hard on Wrongside Up Larry. In fact, I even assigned him to the wrong agency. He really is a nice guy, and he's with the U.S. Forest Service. He's from Pennsylvania, and his tour of duty here is almost up. His preference for upside-down maps was backed up today by Fred, a USFS Safety Officer who also prefers to orient his map to the terrain. As I said yesterday, the camps are just about equally divided on this subject, and I just happen to be in the one which allows you to read the text without having to keep flipping the paper copy around.

They haven't done an infrared flight since before our windstorm, so the estimate of involved acreage still stands at 275. That said, those of us who have been watching the fire on a daily basis can see that it has progressed into the next drainage to the south. This is exactly what they want it to do: burn across the inaccessible terrain until it reaches an established firebreak where it can be managed. While you might think that they would have been happy for the recent rain and high humidity, the opposite is true. Rain and humidity aren't enough to put it out, and are only acting to keep it burning without allowing it to advance toward their dozer lines. I'm learning a lot about fire management from talking to these men, and that includes Larry, even if we do disagree about maps.

Moving Up Stahl

Day 321, Fire Update: Wrongside Up Larry from DNR was back today, fortunately accompanied by David, a more communicative representative of USFS who, when he saw me trying to configure my head to the upside-down map, provided me with a hand-held copy he retrieved from his truck. He said, "It's about 50-50," referring to the number of people who want the map oriented to the terrain instead of "north up." I think a poll by profession would show that about 50% work in map-dependent fields. Larry, for all of his current employment, clearly belongs in the other half.

The fire has not increased in acreage since yesterday, despite the strong winds which kept fire crews in camp all day yesterday. It was simply too dangerous to be in the field. David explained that during an on-site discussion of potential hazards, a gust passed through and took down forty or fifty fire-damaged trees in one great crash, effectively ending any debate. Three-quarters of an inch of rain has at least cleared some of the particulates out of the air, but the fire continues to advance along the ground, leaving burned-out zones behind it. One professional projection says that it is likely to increase to 700-800 acres before it reaches a line where it can be controlled. Wrongside Up Larry said, "Maybe even 4000." Of course his credibility is somewhat suspect as far as I am concerned.

For now, the fire is creeping slowly up the side of Stahl Mtn. (photo) and southeast toward Pleasant Valley. One new hot spot has been reported on the western flank.

Wind Complications

Day 320: The high winds the firefighters were hoping to avoid have arrived. I drove through flying leaves and down roads littered with fallen branches this morning en route to Reliance, there to find the smoke from all but the most active areas blown away. While it makes for a clearer photo, this is not good news. Our little piddle of overnight rain wouldn't sustain a Chihuahua more than 24 hours, and ground fuels are tinder-dry, ready to ignite at the touch of a wind-blown spark.

The Alder Lake Fire now stands at 275 acres. The USFS and DNR have a total of 157 personnel on the incident, and their objective is to hold the progression of the fire on the 79 Road. Quoting from the latest bulletin, the "primary objective is to stop and hold eastward spread of the fire. The fire has been steadily growing to the east, west, and north." Another section of the bulletin states, "Growth continued on west and south sides of the fire." That pretty much covers all the cardinal points of the compass, no? From my observation, growth to the north is minimal, so maybe Wrongside Up Larry was reading the map for one of these reports. In any event, projected activity predicts, "Moderate fire behavior with +20 acres growth." On the map, note the new hot spot east of the main fire (closer to Pleasant Valley)...and that's if the winds die down.

Ten Percent Containment

Day 319: Today's update from InciWeb shows the Alder Lake Fire at 10% containment. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean they have it under control? Does it mean it's 10% out? No, and no. It means that they have created firebreaks around ten percent of the involved area, i.e., crews have removed fuels and cleared roads to a width which they expect will stop further spread of the fire across those lines when it burns to meet them.

The fire is currently most active in inaccessible terrain with a 60% slope and is moving south toward Pleasant Valley (to the left in the center bottom image). However, new hot spots (night shot) have also appeared to the west, but northward progress toward the lake is being held from entering second growth at the 74 Road (lower edge of the smoke line in the center bottom photo). If you're a map-reader, compare the two maps to see how rugged the terrain is. Today, the guys greeted me with, "The maps are still rightside up!" I was glad to see it.

I stayed on site for about an hour and a half last night, watching the west end's hot spots flare and dwindle, trying to capture an "exciting" photo for my readers. For all else it does, my Canon SX30 IS falls down when it comes to taking low-light images. Even at ISO 400, the grain is intolerable.

The forecast rain has not yet appeared on the scene. I had less than 15 seconds of light mist early this morning, and precisely two raindrops struck my windshield on a trip to and from town. Those firefighters need a lot more help than that from Mother Nature if they're going to have this one out before it reaches Pleasant Valley.

Better Communications

Day 318: Larry, the DNR mouthpiece mentioned in yesterday's post, was replaced today by Doug (DNR) and Mark (USFS), a wisecracking pair who were more informative than their predecessor, if not addressing me in quite the same "kindred spirit" as Christian had done. After a greeting from Mark of, "Hi, ma'am! Are you local?" to which I responded immediately with a laughing, "I sure wish you guys would turn that map 'north up,'" we got along famously. Mark responded to my complaint with a chuckle, "Yeah, I noticed that, too. I don't know why they did that," and went directly to the map, removing it from its staples and turning it up into the proper orientation. "Thank you!" I said. "I was getting sick to my stomach looking at it upside-down." "Me too," he agreed. I knew I was going to like this pair based entirely on that initial contact.

The men confirmed what I already knew: the fire grew by over fifty acres overnight, now at 225 and spreading steadily to the southeast and up the northeast flank of Stahl Mtn. The residents of Pleasant Valley have been put on Level 1 evacuation alert, a "get ready" status in case the smoke reaches hazardous concentrations or the fire spreads more quickly than anticipated. Level 2 would mean voluntary evacuation to a shelter or to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Level 3 means mandatory evacuation. The town of Morton is currently prepared to shelter evacuees under either Level 2 or Level 3 alerts. There is less of an inversion today, so the breathability of the air here at home is substantially improved from last night when I was hacking and coughing every few minutes. As I have told friends, I will evacuate either when forced to by a Level 3 alert, or when breathing becomes too difficult.

In other news, we have heavy rain in our forecast starting Friday. This could be good for the fire, but bad with respect to the potential for creating debris flows like the one we had on Tahoma Creek just two weeks ago or flooding on major rivers. Fire, earthquake, debris flow, the possibility of flood...what's next? Foes or famine? Or maybe a plague of locusts? Seems we're running the whole gamut.

183 Acres, Moving East And Up

Day 316: The Alder Lake Fire is now at 183 acres and spreading to the east and up the slopes of Stahl Mtn., a 3716' peak to the southwest of the town of Elbe. Christian, the young firefighter who has been my point of contact for the last several days, says that they have been given the go-ahead to put in a helipad in anticipation of air support. Poring over our mutual map collection, we determined that the spur roads on my ancient "Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest" recreational map (now Gifford Pinchot National Forest) and 7.5' USGS topo were in fact on his topo after all, hidden under the hand-drawn felt-tip lines showing where the fire crew has punched in a line with bulldozers. The fire is presently being held at that line, and at the 74 Road on the bottom, although it is only a few hundred feet from second-growth timber on the west end. "Our guys are watching it very closely to keep it from breaching the road," he told me. Half an hour earlier, I'd watched a rollout in a gully which came dangerously close to that point.

Of more concern is the fact that it's sweeping up-slope toward Stahl. A new column of smoke on the east end (obscured by lower smoke in this photo) seemed quite active. The columns indicate where there is a consolidation of fuel; in fact, the fire is creeping along the ground beneath the canopy and only sends up a "smoke-signal" when it hits a concentration. While talking with Christian and his crewman, I had an ear to radio conversations. "Fire behaviour is increasing in the upper east corner. We're going to have to pull our guys out of there pretty quick." In the background, the growl of bulldozers and crack of falling snags echoed across the placid lake. A spotter plane flew close along the eastern margin of the blaze, circled around for a second pass.

I asked Christian, "Aren't you about due to go back on the line?" He told me he'd be down for a few more days. "They like what I'm doing here, and I like teaching people, but yeah, I'll be going back up pretty soon." I fought down a mothering instinct I didn't know I had and stopped short of hugging him. "Good luck," I said. "Good luck."

Not Good At All

Day 315: Let's start the day off with a bang...literally. At 7:33 AM, I heard a loud growling rumble which I initially thought was an earthquake. A minor rattling accompanied it, more like a reverberation than a shake. It was over in just a few seconds, causing me to re-evaluate my supposition, and upon review, I decided it had been an explosion, and of course I immediately associated it with the Alder Lake Fire. As I sat down to compose an email, I thought, "Maybe I ought to check the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network before I draw any conclusions," and lo and behold! There it was, a 2.9 quake, epicentered only a few miles from my home. Never a dull moment around here!

After putting in a full day at work, I decided to swing by Lillie Dale Road to check on the fire, and there discovered the same young firefighter standing duty by his truck and talking to a crowd of onlookers. He greeted me with a "Howdy, stranger!" and immediately took me aside to explain the fire situation in more detail. I was dismayed to learn that it is progressing eastward, and that it has now spread to 150 acres. The good news is that the Dept. of Natural Resources has now joined the fight since the blaze has crossed over into DNR land.

As my erstwhile "interpretive guide" ran his finger across the map, showing me where crews were actively working and where he had gone in on foot to scout a possible firebreak, I noticed a difference between his map and mine. "What about this ridge? Isn't there a spur road going out it? It comes to a T right along here." I traced the ridgeline for him. "Are you sure?" he asked. I replied, "Yeah, I have it on the old Gifford Pinchot map." He paused for a second before responding, "I'd like to see that map. Could you bring it down tomorrow?" I said I'd be glad to do so.

There's a reason I'm known to several friends as "Mapping Crow," a play on my geocaching moniker. I find maps more fascinating reading than any work of literature I ever held in my hands.Could it be that my map shows something they need to know? I double-checked when I got home. There it is, a short spur which T's off into the 017 and 015 along the crest of the ridge. I'll have my map in his hands at 8 AM tomorrow when he resumes his watch.

"We're Getting Our Butts Kicked Up There"

Day 314: "We're getting our butts kicked up there." The young crewman taking a break after nine straight days on the Alder Lake Fire explained to me in detail the logistics and contingency plans in place, indicating on the topo map specific problem areas, attack routes and established fire lines when he realized I was no stranger to map-reading. Now at 110 acres and still spreading, one of the primary issues in fighting this blaze is the steep terrain. "No dozer wants to go in there," he said. "We're hand-digging the line." Yesterday a snag came down unexpectedly, missing one of the crew by a scant three feet. You can't move out of the way quickly when you're fighting for every foothold, encumbered by heavy protective clothing and equipment.

Earlier this morning, a wind from the east carried the fire westward. As the day warmed, it shifted back to come from the west, blowing the flames east again. The fire has gone into second-growth on the back side of the ridge as well, but the crew has cleared a break, following a disused spur off the 7409. A contingency containment plan outlines creating a "big box" scenario, back-burning lines both to the east and to the west, effectively walling the fire within the confines of fuel-free boundaries. That means the smoke is likely to get worse before it gets better unless the present inversion lifts.

The top photo was taken today, the bottom one just four days ago. That's not fog, not cloud blanketing the foothills. Those peaks are shrouded in smoke, smoke which is drifting up-valley so thickly that I can't see half a mile from home. The Alder Lake smoke coupled with that of the eastern Washington fires obscures the views from high points like Paradise and Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park. Even at Longmire, it's almost impossible to see the Mountain.

It's going to take more than a sprinkle of rain, more than a few days before Smokey Bear's sign drops from "Extreme" to "High." It's going to take a flood-generating downpour before the Bear can relax under the placid green of "Low." For now, old firefighters are "coming out of the woodwork," the young crewman told me, taking their pack tests, getting their Red Cards, leaving comfortable retirements in an attempt to do the job Nature seems reluctant to do: put out the fires which are ravaging our state.

Not Good News

Day 313: I have only the evidence before my eyes to convince me that there is no good news regarding the Alder Lake Fire. The Forest Service has not released a bulletin since yesterday, but it is obvious to me that the involved area has spread toward the east (left side of the photo). The smoke column at that end was quite active, and as I stood watching, I heard the crack and explosion of a large tree falling, taking out more timber as it went down. The smoke is so thick here at home that I can barely make out the outline of the first ridge between me and the Mountain, a mere two miles away. I'm coughing, sneezing, my eyes are watering, and my breathing is affected. Even my neighbor's house has a pall of smoke surrounding it. From Elbe, the view west down the length of Alder Lake is like looking through the heavy fog of an October morning. The ridgetops and valleys are filled with clouds of smoke holding close to ground. Fine ash drifted down in the air on my vantage point near old Reliance, a spot now popular with locals and visitors alike (and undoubtedly much to the frustration of the people who live at the blind end of the formerly peacefully rural Lillie Dale Road). With no rain in the forecast for at least ten days and fire crews engaged on the larger, more threatening fires in eastern Washington, I fear that good news regarding the Alder Lake Fire may be painfully slow in coming.

60 Acres And Growing

Day 312: Overnight, the Alder Lake Fire increased in size to sixty acres, spreading to the southeast. Today as I stood on the shore of the lake near the site of the former community of Reliance, I could hear the ground crews at work with chainsaws, the whining burr of their blades occasionally punctuated with the crack of a tree falling to earth. As gaps appeared in the smoke, I could see where individual trees had torched, their needles brown but hanging on, as is often the case with Douglas fir. These are old trees, 200' tall in many cases, with boughs only on their upper portions. Beneath them, an understory of brush ignites quickly and the fire moves on.

Doug fir has an amazing capacity for surviving fire. The bark on a 200' tree may be four to six inches thick, as insulated against flame as a living thing can be. In fact, fire contributes to the health of a Doug fir forest by removing the competitive understory. As contradictory as the idea might seem on the face of it, lightning-caused fires play a significant role in keeping our state's famous evergreens growing strongly. Fire, timber interests aside, can be beneficial in the long term, both for the woods and for wildlife as old material burns out and newer, less competitive browse springs up in its wake. It's part of Nature, even though we don't want to see it in our neighborhood.

Alder Lake Fire

Day 310: The Alder Lake Fire started with a lightning strike on Tuesday, August 11, and continues to burn tonight, involving approximately 37 acres of timber. A USDA fire crew of 79 personnel with two bulldozers and three engines are working to contain it, and to clear disused spur roads in order to gain better access to the affected area. The latest bulletin describes it as, "Moderate fire behavior, creeping, rolling, and occasional torching. In steep rugged terrain that is inaccessible and has 60% slope." It goes on to say that, "Crews are making great progress, preparing indirect line on the east side with water." No air support has been brought in as it was for the Elbe Hills Fire in 2012. Smoke is drifting roughly southeast at the present time.