Year of the Fire
While the Americans have become quite accustomed to the annual explosion of extreme wildfires in the West during late summer and into the fall, it is a different story here in the Southeast. The old saying suggests “April showers bring May flowers,” but around these parts, late February through May is the period when most wildfires occur. Humans are responsible for the vast majority of wildfire ignitions in North Carolina, where burning piles of yard debris is commonplace as folks tidy up in preparation for the growing season. Unfortunately, some people who burn yard waste do not take into account risky environmental conditions that can lead to tragedy. High winds, low humidity and dry fuels are ingredients for unintended disaster. These are the threats that keep fire managers up at night.
This is also traditionally the time of year when those same fire managers look for the perfect combination of atmospheric and terrestrial parameters to conduct prescribed burns on the lands they oversee. At Lake James State Park, prescribed fire has been used as a management tool since 2014. Designated areas of the park, known as burn units, range in size from 30 acres to more than 500. Burn units are separated out from the landscape with fire lines. Fire lines can be constructed by hand or heavy equipment, or they can be natural. At Lake James State Park, burn units are often defined by at least one natural boundary that fire cannot cross, like a wide creek or even the lake itself. Other fire lines can be pre-existing, like the paved roads traversing the park and its campgrounds, or constructed by raking or bulldozing all of the combustible material from a Point A to Point B.
Each burn unit has its own prescription, which defines the conditions under which it can be burned effectively and safely. These conditions include, wind speed and wind direction, forecasted air temperature and relative humidity, moisture levels within the fuels that will burn and the human and mechanical assets to do the job.
If the weather cooperates, you might see a column of smoke rising from the park. You might also be inconvenienced by a gate closure at either the Paddy’s Creek or Catawba River areas when a prescribed burn is being conducted. If that happens, you’ll know the burn is being happening to improve wildlife habitat and restore the historic forest ecosystem. It’s also consuming the dry, dead wood and leaflitter on the forest floor in a gentle and controlled intensity – far more desirable than what could happen during an extreme wildfire situation.
