Imagine, if you can, more than 3.7 million acres of Texas since November 15, 2010 looking like this:
Beginning with the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey the Bear: "Remember… Only YOU can prevent forest fires." ad campaign in 1944, the attitude that all wildfire is bad began to take hold. "All fire is bad" is now the predominant perception in our general culture. In fact, the issues involved in wildfire are quite complex and go well beyond the scope of a single blog post.
Nature is cyclical: regeneration, maturation, degeneration, repeat. We consider many natural forces such as wildfire and floods as destructive, meaning "bad," because we suffer loss as a result. In some cases endangered species' habitat is lost. In the larger scheme of things, however, these forces lead to regeneration and renewal. Many ecosystems such as the pine forests that were at the heart of the Bastrop fire evolved to depend on wildfire for survival.
The exceptional drought in Texas has exacerbated the wildfire threat. Very large, well established trees are dying or have already died:
The urban / wild land interface presents particular challenges. In rural areas including many of the state parks, controlled burns can and have been conducted over the years to keep fuel from accumulating. Controlled burns are not possible in more densely populated areas.
The rain this past week brought at least a temporary relief from the incredibly dry conditions, but the wild lands are still highly vulnerable to wildfire. This is a view of the Salado Creek area just east of the September 11 wildfire:
That wildfire occurred very near the demographic center of the San Antonio metropolitan area. It was likely caused by an electrical spark on the south side of the creek bed and rapidly spread north:
As the fire spread, it primarily burned the underbrush and killed the larger vegetation in its path. Where the fire was most intense, all the vegetation burned. The San Antonio Fire Department's response was very rapid and aggressive, otherwise more of the larger vegetation would have burned. To provide some spacial reference, these photos are posted in the order they were taken:
The rapid response of the SAFD prevented any human loss and the tragedy that could have occurred. It will be interesting to see how this area of about 125 acres regenerates over the coming one, three, five years and beyond.
Update Wednesday, September 21, 2011:
The Austin American - Statesman reported yesterday evening that a Texas Forest Service report has concluded the Bastrop fire, the largest, most destructive wildfire in Texas's history, was started at two separate locations by dead trees falling on electrical lines with the resulting sparks igniting the tinder dry underbrush.
