# **** Its Cook'in Again ****



## catcapper

The rocky mountains are cook'in again.

Last night a new timber fire started and this one is about 5 miles from the house. The law is set up down at the east end of the ranch and they are tell'in folks to skin out of the area. We'll see how they hadle this one.

I'm stay'in--- I have too much invested in this outfit to run.

---I'll update pics later.


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## catcapper

**


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## bar-d

Stay safe Cat.


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## youngdon

Yep, stay safe and remember that it's only stuff.


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## catcapper

We had winds last night between 30-50 miles an hour--- that's what got this thing go'in. The wind blew a power line down in a mountain park on the other side of the mountain that's behind the house. At daybreak, the wind was still strong and pushed the fire into an out of control rage. So far--- the fire has destroyed over 13,000 acres in 9 hours and the burn is 10 miles long, dump'in ash on the city of Pueblo,CO. which is 40 miles away.

We have wind at 10-15 mph now, and thank God Miss K and I are on the up wind side so the fire is advance'in this direction at a slow rate of speed. The big sub-division to the east has been evacuated and the sheriff dept. has the roads blocked.

At 1500 hrs, we could see the fire line and flames burn'in this way 1 1/2-2 miles in the distance from behind the house. I have the spray rig hooked to the tractor and hoses from the pump house.

Wont be much sleep tonight--- sure hope we get some air support in the morn'in--- we have a good VFD up here so will just have to see what happens if the fire comes across the short grass.

awprint:


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## catcapper

The fella just up the road called and told me to have a look off the porch--- the D-7 the fire fighters are use'in is camp'in out about a mile down the road and looks like its gonna be there till morn'in--- I'm feel'in a bit better.

awprint:


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## 220swift

Man Dave your area just can't get a break. You and Miss K be safe up there, our over reacting liberal news media down here in the metro area is reporting as of 10:00 pm the fire has taken 16,000 acres, one house and five out buildings.

Take care!


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## prairiewolf

Take care and be safe ! Mother nature can be cruel at times but I agree with your decision to stay and protect your property. If people hadnt stayed during our fire in 2002, our little town would be gone now. they pulled the firefighters off and took them to Show Low to protect it and the Governors house !!


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## glenway

Prayers sent from Michigan. The dozer and spray rig are good insurance. Hope the winds stay favorable, Cat.


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## hassell

Be careful there Cat, keep a box of wet one's beside you while on the tractor.


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## catcapper

Daybreak came yesterday morn'in and we could see about 100 yards--- the wind had switched and smoke was come'in in from the east towards us, so it was time to go.

The temp was 30* and the wind was around 10 mph and had slowed the fire quite a bit.

I could write pages of the day, but I'll just give ya a short cap.

Turns out the dozer wasn't the fire fighters unit--- it belonged to one of the local contractors who I use to sub some of my jobs to when I was contracting. It was gonna be all local folks on this end of the fire for a while since FEMA had not O.K.'ed any money for the fire yet. The "7" spent the day cut'in a fire line most of the day through the scattered parks and timber with VFD folks mop'in up behind the yellow beast.

Later in the day the dozer moved to the top of the mountain to the south of us and knocked out another line on the ridge through timber and shut the flames there.

The fire is not out--- but theres a 99% chance its not come'in this way anymore. As Glenn would say--- "Good job men"

Note; The government has taken control of the fire now--- lord help us all.

The USDA saw the crawler cut'in a line on top of the mountain, so--- being the nice folks they are--- they went the whole way up there and told the operator to get off their ground. Sorry--- he was on private ground that belonged to the sub-division. The USDA may want to check their maps a bit better the next time they come out to get in the way of good men do'in a good job.

Were still here.

awprint:


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## prairiewolf

Some good news the fire looks like it will miss you now.

The Forest Service and other Govt officials tried to stop people from working the fire during ours also.


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## youngdon

We're glad to hear that you and the neighbors got a handle on it cat. We'll keep saying few for you all and pray your governor doesn't have a place on the other end of the fire.


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## glenway

Good job, men!

Surprised the government man wasn't "helped" off the mountain.


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## 220swift

Good to hear from you Cat, tell them damn bureaucrats to stay the hell out of the way and let the people that know what they're doing finish the work!

You and Miss K stay safe!


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## Antlerz22

The crap never ends with those who wield power, or like to throw their weight around. Probably the same wormy little punk that in school, everyone laughed at and was always being ignored.

Glad things changed for the better fire wise, and that neighbors can come together as a community and do what all the red tape couldnt do.. Where backfires set to counter the available fuel towards the oncoming fires?


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## catcapper

Most of the time conditions are not right to set a backfire from a fire line with timber fires.

With this fire, I was gonna light a backfire as a last ditch effort if it came to that, and I had a plan to attempt to control conditions.

If the fire had jumped the dozer line and made it to my east fence line, it was gonna have to cross 1/2 mile of short grass and hay field before it reached the house. At that time I would have the fella from the next outfit up the road blade an arched ditch about 100 yards long around the east side of the house. We would then head out with the tractors and see what we could put out with our equipment, while Miss K used the well hoses to wet all the grasses down on the west side of the ditch. If the flames made it to within 200 yards of the house, I was gonna light the fire side of the ditch with the weed burner and I could control my fire with the hoses.

If it had came to that, I would have lost quite a bit of equipment, but I would have most probably saved the house.

Theres a type 1 team on the fire now with air support. As of yesterday evening, 17,000 acres were burned and the fire was 3% contained.

awprint:


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## prairiewolf

What gets me about the wiuldfires is; Why dont they jump on them immediately with all the big stuff and put them right out !!!! It would be less cost in the long run. But I suspect it has to do with spreading out "OUR" money to govt agencies, so they all get a piece of it.


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## kiyote

yep. fire is money.


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## youngdon

Last I heard the all knowing feds decided that they should let fires run their natural course to keep the forests thinned by Ma Nature. You can bet that if a congressman has a place in the woods that forest crews have been in the area thinning it out


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## catcapper

They opened up some roads yesterday and I got to see some of the damage on my way to town.

My best lion hunt'in area is black--- I wont be hunt'in there for 5-7 years.

The fire report so far is 18,000 acres burnt and 33% containment.

I took the picture from the desert (down wind side) on my way back up the mountain from town. Theres an old burn scar towards the base of the mountain from 11 years ago and that slowed the flames.

Some folks think this one is over and done with, but all it needs to get cook'in again is a bit of wind. Its probably gonna burn till we get some snow.

To give ya some kind of idea of how big this burn is--- my outfit is 12 miles to the west (where it started) from the base of the mountains in the picture.


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## kiyote

catcapper said:


> They opened up some roads yesterday and I got to see some of the damage on my way to town.
> 
> My best lion hunt'in area is black--- I wont be hunt'in there for 5-7 years.
> 
> why not? the game will be back in there, next spring. heck they are probly already moving back in.
> as devastating as fires can be , they can also be the best thing for ones hunting area


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## prairiewolf

kiyote: why not? the game will be back in there, next spring. heck they are probly already moving back in.
as devastating as fires can be , they can also be the best thing for ones hunting area

Boy it didnt happen that soon after our fire, of course our fire was roughly 500,000 acres. It took several years for the elk to come back and they still arent at the numbers they were. Turkey is still way down and finally starting to come back. But now we have more deer around all the fire area, but again I would say it took 10 yrs. The fire was back in 2002.


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## kiyote

we had big fires three and again two years ago. burnt up the majority of the unit I generally hunt aND SOME IN SURROUNDING UNITS.

the deer and elk were moving back into the burn literally days behind the fire. the underbrush and grass is coming back great.sure,there are some hot spots where the ground was charred and nothing is growing yet but it is the exception not the rule.while I feel for those who lost their homes(and there were many) the fires are the best thing that could have happened for the habitat.


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## knapper

When we have fires here the animals move back in quickly due to grasses and small trees growing up. Good hunting in about 5 years for moose.


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## catcapper

I'm with prairiewolf. It may be the conditions in the lower part of the U.S. and drier mountains, but our ground does not recover very fast. Weeds like mullein, thistles and lupines take a foot hold fairly quick in the burn but the grasses and browse can take a few years to establish themselves. I think the newly grown food sources in burn areas stay bitter to taste for quite a few years as natures way to keep the grazers from damaging the area too soon after the burn. My cows wont eat the grass from a burn for about three years.

As Ed has said--- it takes several years for elk to move back into one of these post burn areas. I hunted an area called Duckett Creek for a little more than twenty years till it burned and the drainage held 3-400 elk. Its been 11 years now, and the resident herd is about 30 animals.

awprint:


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## Antlerz22

Indians here back in the day before white men, started their own fires every year. They knew the importance of keeping the understory in check, lest a really big out of control fire start. By accounts the forest/swamps etc were pristine, trees had no lower branches as the smaller fires kept that at bay. So it was like big trees with their interspersed openings allowing daylight in and no competition from smaller seedlings trying to grow. Made for better access for game to travel, not to mention it helped with nitrogen levels in the ground and fresh green grasses for the deer. Fires are beneficial if administered right and frequently so there wont be a build up of tinder that makes the fires go up in the tops and "jump" lighting other tree tops as well and killing the trees. A small fire burning back small low branches but staying out of the tops is fine. It also helps to open the pine cones and other types of seed bearing "apparatus" as such to release fresh new seeds.

So in that scenario, it could have game back in fairly soon to work on the new grass---BUT----its late in the year (cold up there considering things growing), in the mountains, and snow is right around the corner. So I'm thinking maybe no new growth, which makes next years first greening a lot harder. Where things were scorched and no seeds from the "would be" grass that would have grown in the right time of the year for fires to help with.

Sure wish the idiots in land management would consider or better yet go to to Indians who were indigenous to the area and ASK exactly how they managed the forests so far as controlled fires/burns were concerned. But then that would mean their degrees in forestry management, aren't worth more than wiping ones ass. Something not any of them is willing to admit, by virtue of, asking the Indians. But of course all this is my thinking on the subject, and speculation and or conjecture. But then again, I don't just flap my fingers, just sometimes! LOL


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## glenway

It all depends and Cat has explained some variables.

Booked a guided elk hunting trip to Montana near the Idaho border a few years back, and then the fires came through about a year before my late-season hunt.

A total waste of money. Nothing.


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## catcapper

The wind started blow'in from the north around noon yesterday at 15-20 mph and by 1300 the area of forest that was claimed contained, blew up again about 5 miles from the house. Maybe they let folks back in a bit too soon over on 165.

Glad I didn't have to leave the house--- I would have missed the ball game------ GO BAMA.lol.

The two dots just above the horizon lower left of where the smoke is come'in up is a Chinook and Blackhawk choppers. Their easy to see if ya blow up the photo. On the other side of the ridge on the right is where the fire started last Monday.


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## Bigdrowdy1

Keeping you and Miss K in my thoughts and prayers Cat.


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## glenway

Hope you're getting some sleep, Cat.


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## catcapper

That flare up on the south side has the burn area at 20,000 acres now.

awprint:


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## youngdon

Stay safe Dave !


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## catcapper

Thanks fellas.

Most of the fire is burn'in 6-7 mile away now and we have a pretty good fire line on the east side. Their let'in the fire burn back on itself in some areas--- I don't think its a very good idea--- but I didn't go out and buy myself a $40,000.00 piece of paper that tells me I'm suppose to be smart.

awprint:


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## prairiewolf

Dave, I will print you up a nice certificate for a lot less than $40,000.


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## catcapper

Looks like what 40 grand gets ya is--- stupid--- yep--- the government try'in to make a "good" call.

The fire was 80% contained and things were look'in fairly good--- then the smart fellas figured they would do some back burn'in for safety reasons they said.

About noon the wind started to blow and the fire blew up too--- their back burn turned back in to a forest fire. In the pictures ya can see all the mountains in back of the smoke are cooked. Towards the lower left at the base of the mountain is the small town of Wetmore--- that's pretty close---wonder if they had to chase out the folks they just let back in. The weather in the Colorado mountains can change in a matter of minutes in this country--- guess their fancy paper didn't cover that.

Do I sound a bit grumpy--- you bet.

I stopped in at one of the local saloons a couple days ago cause it was a tuff day out in the log patch and a cold one sounded good. There was an out of state fire captain in the place, that looked like he had had almost one too many, chase'in one of the Fischer girls around (or she was chase'in him--- that clan isn't known for their good looks) and I got to talk to him for a few minutes.

I asked him about the back burns----------- get ready for this------------ he said they do the back burns to "make more money".

WHAT--- once the money is O.K.'ed, they start roll'in their equipment in. If the burn is allotted 7m, and they have it controlled for 2m, they just hang around do'in back burns and demo to run the charge up. Its only tax payers dollars.

So--- they call the burns safety--- I call it public endangerment--- maybe the folks it Wetmore think that too.

This country sure does need a new government.


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## hassell

I hear you Cat, you can't fix stupid. A couple local logging companies were doing fall slash burns, nobody thought about the winds - I told them that info is available everyday. Wonder what that cost them after the fires were finally contained.


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## 220swift

​​
This brush fire started up yesterday morning, about six miles from my view out of my office window. Cat, it sure didn't take them long to knock this thing down. 205 acres burned, at some point there was some 850 people evacuated from their homes. 100% contained in a matter of several hours. Being an open area grass/brush fire, much easier to contain than what's going on up in Cat's area.

Be safe Dave and Miss K!


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## glenway

Dang, man! Not the Fischer girls!


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## catcapper

I wouldn't kid about a thing like that Glen--- it was the oldest of the three. Them thar folk down south of town have been breed'in cows for so long, it must be run'in off on the offspring.

awprint:


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## glenway

So, what's wrong with some free milk anyway?


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## catcapper

:roflmao:

awprint:


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## ReidRH

Glad you're Safe Dave! Don't Let them Folks South of town around you're Cattle!!


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## Antlerz22

Need an update, I know its been awhile but inquiring minds and all!!!


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## glenway

Word is the Fischer girls are still available.


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## catcapper

Don't have any word on the girls--- I've been work'in a log patch up north towards Cripple Creek.

Theres a bunch of hot spots burn'in and smoke'in inside the fire line. This thing will stay simi active till we get our first good snow to put it out.

awprint:


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## catcapper

Looks like we might get a decent snow tomorrow to put out most of the gulches that are still burn'in.

awprint:


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## prairiewolf

Good news to hear. We got our first snow Sunday after Thanksgiving.


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## youngdon

One would think that with all the money our gooberment spends they could afford a few more of those Sikorskys to help combat those fires. Hopefully the fires at this point are just burning the underbrush and helping to maintain the forests health.


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## glenway

Looks like the weather's pouring in from Alaska this time around and we all hope it does the job on those hot spots, Cat. Should hit us some time next week in Michigan.


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## catcapper

Seems like the elites that run these "incidents" want to pocket some of the monies that come in from these timber fires instead of shell'in it out to the ground grunts and air support.

Take a look at the fires down south--- they had a month or more to take care of them. All of a sudden they get a big blow that turns into a fire storm and they damn near loose Gatlinburg.

I know they know better than us old ********--- those government people bought a piece of paper from some lib collage that says their smart.

awprint:


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## glenway

Yeah, that book learnin' can get in the way of a good education.


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## youngdon

Boy ain't that the truth.


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## ReidRH

Man I hate it about the Fire in Gatlinburg as we Vacation there every other year or so. we were there the first of October I sure wish I would have taken More Pictures. Of Course Lisa and I Spend Most of our time in the woods!! Not in Gatlinburg!

Fire is Bad No Matter Where it Is but it seems its much Harder and to Control in the Mountains Where I live the forestry can usually contain it!! But When We Get as Dry as we did this year Its just Flat out Dangerous with all the Brush in the woods here in the south.

We dodged a Huge Bullet this year!!


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## catcapper

Made at trek down to the desert today. On my return--- I observed most of the fire had been overcome by the snow. I counted 7 draws were still burn'in. It will be sub-zero temps tonight and maybe more of the white stuff--- should be out come springtime.

awprint:


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## hassell

Good news Cat, after breaking rainfall records for Oct. and part of Nov. it would be tough to try and light a fire anywhere around here.


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## catcapper

At least somebody is get'in some moisture--- I might have to do a rain dance this spring.

Were still in a stage two fire ban here till the end of this month.

awprint:


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## murphyranch

catcapper said:


> At least somebody is get'in some moisture--- I might have to do a rain dance this spring.
> 
> Were still in a stage two fire ban here till the end of this month.
> 
> awprint:


timing has a lot to do with it when you dance for the rain


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## catcapper

I usually wait till there are some heavy clouds build'in up to the west before I start jump'in around out in the field Murphy--- or--- its cause I just stepped in a bite'in wood ant pile.lol.

awprint:


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## dwtrees

Just to bad I can't send you some of the 31 inches of snow we got in the last two weeks.


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