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

With our current long daylight hours, extremely hot weather, fierce afternoon thunder boomers, high winds, low humidity, and bone-dry vegetation, you need to be aware of the ever-increasing fire danger surrounding us.

Our countryside is a disaster waiting to happen, 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 or a tossed cigarette to create a roaring inferno.

The current Bison Fire (24,136+ acres - 80 percent contained as of Friday morning) in Douglas County, which was sparked by a lightning strike, is a classic example of how dry we are.

It is the largest known fire in the history of Western Nevada.
Please be fire smart! We certainly try to do so and here’s how:

The Quilici cabin is located on 1.5 acres on a steep hillside between Portola and Davis Lake, California.
On that hillside, there are pine trees of all sizes, Quaking Aspen trees, Manzanita Brush, Sagebrush, assorted other trees and bushes, Mule Ear plants, plus 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.

To date, so far in 2013, Elaine and I have filled and brought out a grand total of 28 large, black, plastic garbage bags full of winter debris, pine needles, pine cones, cheat grass and other weeds, plus tree and bush trimmings.
28 large bags and we are not done yet!

Geez, it almost seems as if you can watch the weeds and that miserable cheat grass grow right in front of your eyes. That stuff is unbelievable.

We have worked hard to clear a fire-safe zone around our cabin, which hopefully will reduce the danger to it if a fire should erupt.
However that fire-safe zone has come at a price.

We have spent a large number of days raking pine needles and cones, cutting or pulling up cheat grass, pruning and shaping branches on bushes and cutting off low branches on trees, to create 28 bags of debris.

It would have been a lot more fun to drive several miles to Davis Lake to spend the time fishing for rainbow trout, but we care about our property, so all our hard work, time and effort has resulted in a better peace of mind.

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

Some of those neighbors’ cabins are surrounded by tall dry cheat grass and untrimmed pine trees with low branches and that particular combination is a disaster just waiting to happen.

In one particular case, the nearby neighbors visited their cabin only twice in all of the year 2012. Twice in an entire year!

That's a lot of money spent on a mortgage, taxes, water, sewer, electricity, etc. for something you only visit twice a year.

You would be amazed at how overgrown their property has become with cheat grass and other weeds.
Keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens before the rainy season arrives this fall to dampen the 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 property (like they do) where there is a combination of weeds (especially cheat grass), shaggy bushes and trees with low branches, take the time to be fire smart, work to reduce the fire danger and create a fire-safe zone.

That time and effort could make all the difference between a close call or a total disaster if a fire should occur.
Remember to be fire smart! You won't regret it!

Finally:
If you are someone who spends time fishing, hiking, camping, four-wheeling, etc. in the Great Outdoors, be careful, be careful, be very careful.
Here's some tips on being careful out there:

01. If you drive and smoke (a very bad habit that is ultimately harmful to your lungs), make sure your cigarette is put out in an ash tray.
Do not throw that cigarette out of your vehicle's window.
That's a big "No-No" that can get you a big fine if you're caught.

02. Stay on established roadways, do not wander all over the hillsides in your ATV or four-wheel drive vehicle.
You could cause a spark from driving over a rock or from your vehicle's catalectic converter, and that would not be good.
Be sure to carry an axe, a shovel and a large container of water. You just might need those items to help fight the fire that you inadvertently start.

03. If you must have a campfire, use a fire pit in an established campground or have a small fire in a fire circle made of rocks.

When you are ready to leave, pour water on the remains of your fire and stir the ashes while watering.
Make sure, make doubly sure that the ashes are all out when you leave.
If in doubt, stir the ashes and drench with more water.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you what is interesting about the Quilici cabin's area during the hot summer months.

If he grins and says, "The mule deer love to lay in the shade of our pine trees during the heat of the afternoon," he has been one of our visitors who have watched those deer (as many as 13 at one time) from our cabin's deck.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com