Outdoors with Don Q: Be fire smart and create a fire-safe zone

Last week, I wrote about the strong possibility of poor fishing this summer due to our prolonged drought period.
In addition to the possibility of poor fishing, be aware of the ever-increasing, serious fire danger surrounding us because of our current long daylight hours, hot weather, gusty afternoon winds, low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and dumb acts by humans. Not a good combination.

Our entire countryside is tinder dry, and it would only take a moment of carelessness, sparks from target shooting, illegal fireworks, a hot vehicle muffler on a dirt road, an abandoned campfire, a tossed cigarette, etc. to create a roaring inferno of fire.

Be fire smart. We try to do so at our mountain cabin and here’s how:
The Quilici cabin is located on a steep hillside between Portola and Davis Lake in Plumas County, Calif. On that hillside, there are pine trees of all sizes, Quaking Aspen trees, Manzanita brush, assorted other trees and bushes, Mule Ear plants, lots of sagebrush and lots of cheat grass.

Our biggest problem there is twofold:
1. The never-ending accumulation of pine needles and pine cones.
2: The ever-growing and ever-spreading cheat grass.
The needles, cones and cheat grass rapidly dry out in the scorching summer heat and become a serious fire danger. Each year, we work hard to reduce the possibility of a major problem.

So far this year (through June 14) Elaine and I have filled a total of 21 large, black, plastic trash bags with winter debris, pine needles, pine cones, cheat grass and other weeds, plus tree and bush trimmings from around the cabin. 21 large bags and we are not done yet. We have worked to clear a fire-safe zone around our cabin, which hopefully will reduce the danger, if a forest fire should erupt in that area. God Forbid.

However that fire-safe zone has come at a price: We have spent a number of days raking up pine needles, picking up pine cones, cutting or pulling up cheat grass, pruning and shaping branches on bushes, cutting off low branches on trees and pulling up all kinds of sagebrush.

It would have been a lot more fun to drive to nearby Davis Lake to spend those days leisurely fishing for rainbow trout, but we care about our mountain-side property, so all our hard work, time and effort has resulted in a much better peace of mind regarding our cabin and its surroundings.

However, there are other neighbors in that immediate area who have not lifted a finger to reduce their fire danger, and it could get very interesting and possibly devastating if something should happen on their properties.

Those neighbors’ grounds are covered with pine cones, pine needles and tall dry cheat grass, plus many untrimmed pine trees with branches low to the ground. That combination is a disaster just waiting to happen.
In one particular case, our nearest neighbors have visited their cabin just five times in the last 2.5 years (that's an average of only once every six months!).

You would be amazed at how thickly overgrown their property has become with winter debris, cheat grass and other weeds.

Do they care? Apparently not. Fire safety seems to be a low priority for them. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens before the rainy season arrives this fall to dampen and soak the entire countrywide.
As a matter of interest, when cheat grass dries out, it seems to take on the characteristics of gasoline when a flame encounters it. It almost instantly explodes into flames, and then you have a major fire problem on your hands.

So, if you have some property, like at our cabin where there is a combination of weeds (especially cheat grass), shaggy bushes and trees with low branches, lots of pine cones and pine needles, take the time to reduce the fire danger and create a fire-safe zone.

That time and effort could make all the difference between a close call and a total disaster if a wild land fire should occur. Be fire smart...Be safe.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you about the areas where we pulled cheat grass last year.
If he sighs and says, “That stuff spreads like a wildfire and some of the areas where Don and Elaine pulled all kinds of cheat grass, last year, were infested once again this year,” he wins this bet.

Special note:
Hmmm, maybe we need to have a flock of sheep to eat that miserable cheat grass, like the sheep that are used on Carson City’s “C Hill.”

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. Don's wife, Elaine, is the official Outdoor section photographer. They can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.