Friends Of Hickory Nut Gorge produced a fire education workshop and hike 11/2008 in response to the wild fire last August that burned 260 acres in the Gorge, and was successfully contained by 3 weeks of persistent, tireless efforts by fire fighters from the NC Forest Service and by 5 volunteer fire departments, most notably the Chimney Rock Volunteer Fire Department. Following are some key points made by some of the panelists.
I. FIRE FIGHTING
Fire is a very normal part of nature, and is a needed element in many ecosystems. When people started moving into the forest, suppression of fires became the norm in order to protect homes. As a result, larger amounts of dead timber have accumulated in the forests, creating large amounts of fuel for potential fires. This increase of fuel in the forest in turn makes the suppression of wildfires a more time, and resource consuming process. With the current trend of people wanting to live in and with nature, more homes are being located in the forest with little regard to wildfires. While building homes with minimal disturbance to the natural settings is visually appealing, fire does not discriminate between a leaf, stick, tree, or home. Being prepared for a wildfire is the best way to protect your home. There are many resources, such as Firewise, that can give you guild lines for what can be done before a fire threatens your home, to increase the chances that your home can be saved.
Henry Kunzig Assistant County Ranger North Carolina Forest Service
II. PROTECTING YOUR HOME FROM FIRE
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Everyone should provide a defensible space around their homes. Provide at least 30 feet clear of brush, leaves, and readily combustible debris. Hardwood trees are not a problem but evergreen trees burn readily and in any season.
Everyone should provide a defensible space around their homes. Provide at least 30 feet clear of brush, leaves, and readily combustible debris. Hardwood trees are not a problem but evergreen trees burn readily and in any season. •Maintain your driveway and parking area so emergency vehicles can access your home and have room to turn around. Not just for fires but for others emergencies including medical.
Maintain your driveway and parking area so emergency vehicles can access your home and have room to turn around. Not just for fires but for others emergencies including medical. •Outdoor burning requires a permit from the NC Forest Service and all burning shall be attended until it is out and cold. Always wet down the ashes to insure the fire is completely out.
Outdoor burning requires a permit from the NC Forest Service and all burning shall be attended until it is out and cold. Always wet down the ashes to insure the fire is completely out. •Ashes from wood stoves can hold hot embers for days, do not dump them without wetting them and insuring there cold. Also don't store them in buckets on your deck or in the grass as the heat can transfer through the bucket and start a fire.
Ashes from wood stoves can hold hot embers for days, do not dump them without wetting them and insuring there cold. Also don't store them in buckets on your deck or in the grass as the heat can transfer through the bucket and start a fire.•Remember to remove leaves or pine needles from your roof and gutters as embers from a fire can easily catch these on fire.
Remember to remove leaves or pine needles from your roof and gutters as embers from a fire can easily catch these on fire.•Keep the leaves raked or blown from around your home to help prevent a loose fire from buring up to your home.
Keep the leaves raked or blown from around your home to help prevent a loose fire from buring up to your home. •Go to www.firewise.org for more tips to make your home safe from wildfire.
Go to www.firewise.org for more tips to make your home safe from wildfire. Ron Morgan Lake Lure Fire Chief
III. BENEFITS OF FIRE
The efforts of the local and state firefighters to protect the community from the hazards of wildfires are incredibly important. Additionally, scientific work shows us that fire has a very constructive role to play in the ecosystems of Hickory Nut Gorge. At the Gorge’s rims, we find table mountain pine communities. The cones of these pines actually will not open and release seed without periodic fire, so the natural community literally depends on fire occurrences to regenerate. Much of Hickory Nut Gorge also contains oak forest communities. Oak is a major source of food for many native animal species, and scientists and land managers are troubled by a widespread lack of oak regeneration in the Southern Appalachians. Periodic fire can be useful here too in helping oaks out-compete species that are less fire-tolerant. The Nature Conservancy and many state, federal, and private partners in the region are working together to tackle land management challenges like these by using controlled burns as an ecological management tool. Together, we have formed an active Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network, through which we share information and resources as we strive to improve the use of this tool to foster the health of our ecosystems along the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment and other key mountain landscapes.
David Ray
Southern Blue Ridge Project Director
The Nature Conservancy
Workshop participants took the first of three guided hikes through the burned landscape. The upcoming hikes in the spring and fall will demonstrate the regeneration of the land in terms of losses and benefits. Possible studies of the data may increase our understanding of future prescribed burns in the Blue Ridge mountains and escarpment.
Diana Richards
President, Friends of Hickory Nut Gorge
www.friendsofhng.org
