Forum Index > Trail Talk > Is this how forest fires start? Coal Lake Saturday
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Killer
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Killer
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PostSun Oct 16, 2022 6:57 pm 
Initially I wanted to create this post to shame the campers who risked starting a forest fire. Instead, I'll just warn that wilderness campfires are difficult to extinguish in the current dry conditions. I know because after an hour of schlepping gallons of water, two of us still couldn't fully extinguish the embers left behind by campers. It was spreading slowly outward, partly under nearby logs, partly underground, and reached about 8ft diameter by Saturday afternoon. We informed the ranger station in Verlot and hopefully they were finally able to stop it. Was it an honest mistake? Those who started the fire left behind several empty beer cans and a container of empty LIGHTER FLUID. Ok, some shaming is needed. In a way, it's lucky the fire created enough smoke to draw our suspicion across the lake. Stay safe out there everyone.

half fast, gb, BW, IanB  Randito, Lindsay  olderthanIusedtobe, Cyclopath  Anne Elk, SpookyKite89, HikingBex
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zimmertr
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zimmertr
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PostSun Oct 16, 2022 7:11 pm 
I saw two separate groups burning big fires on dispersed sites off Gold Creek Road Friday night. Jerks!

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olderthanIusedtobe
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSun Oct 16, 2022 8:07 pm 
Thanks for doing your best to extinguish the fire! I've done something similar on 2 occasions, but neither had expanded like the fire you found. One was in Idaho. The other was at one of the Greenwater Lakes, and according to a group camped nearby it was a Boy Scout troop that left the fire. I was shocked and disappointed by that.

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Pyrites
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PostSun Oct 16, 2022 9:03 pm 
Thanks for your effort. Hopefully you slowed it down enough that a couple smokechasers were able to handle it. Pro tip. If you have soap, even a very small amount per container makes a big difference in this kind of fire.

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!

joker, ChinookPass
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Nancyann
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 5:14 am 
Thank you for doing the best you could to put the fire out. I hate to think what would have happened if no one had done anything. I feel like in the interest of self preservation, more of us should consider stepping out of our comfort zone and doing what it takes to fix the screw ups of others in the wilderness. Also, why was the road up to Coal Lake even open during a red flag warning weekend? Why was dispersed camping even allowed on Gold Creek Road? When are the land managers going to learn? Maybe they need to be replaced by more competent people.

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RichP
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 5:47 am 
People like this have no fear of being shamed and feel entitled to do that they want. I've confronted a group with a roaring fire at a high elevation lake during a burn ban and was told to FO and mind my own business. You can't win. frown.gif

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gb
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gb
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 6:58 am 
Although still hard to catch, the fine for illegal campfires should be on the order of 10,000 to 25,000 dollars. Contact your state representatives.

joker, kiliki, Anne Elk
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Randito
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Randito
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 7:42 am 
Thanks for putting it out.

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treeswarper
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treeswarper
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 7:44 am 
olderthanIusedtobe wrote:
Thanks for doing your best to extinguish the fire! I've done something similar on 2 occasions, but neither had expanded like the fire you found. One was in Idaho. The other was at one of the Greenwater Lakes, and according to a group camped nearby it was a Boy Scout troop that left the fire. I was shocked and disappointed by that.
Boy Scouts are famous for starting fires. In the Okanogan Forest, there was The Boy Scout Fire which started at their Bonaparte lake camp and burned quite a few acres. I've come across smoldering campfires where the scouts had large gatherings. They are human, they are in the charge of adults, who may be in a hurry to get home. Killer: Thanks for taking the time to do the right thing.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 8:20 am 
Gawd people are stupid! I haven't even dared to have a fire in my fully enclosed metal ringed fire pit with a decent amount of clearance with any brush or grass. Any risk is too much risk imo. There is also an old tree stump at Coal lake that people have previously started fires under. Something like that can smolder for a long time and take off when winds pick up.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.

rossb
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Stefan
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 9:38 am 
They did not even drink good beer! Idiots.

Art is an adventure.

Chief Joseph, Pyrites, rubywrangler, rossb  Anne Elk
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rossb
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 10:13 am 
I did a similar thing earlier in the year by Little Heart Lake. My buddy and I poured about ten gallons on the thing, but couldn't put it out. It was an especially awkward spot for getting water, and we only had one Nalgene and a wide mouth bladder. It was bigger than what you had to deal with, and was creeping in a similar manner. Officials were notified, and on our day out, saw a crew of two (with shovels, axes, and big water buckets) ready to deal with the thing. Before we saw them we went by the fire, and it hadn't grown much, despite the hot, sunny weather. Every little bit helps, and I would imagine several group independently took a shot at it before the professionals could douse it.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 11:29 am 
treeswarper wrote:
Boy Scouts are famous for starting fires. In the Okanogan Forest, there was The Boy Scout Fire which started at their Bonaparte lake camp and burned quite a few acres. I've come across smoldering campfires where the scouts had large gatherings. They are human, they are in the charge of adults, who may be in a hurry to get home.
My criticism was directed at the adults, not the kids. I would like to think they are passing along a strong wilderness ethic to the kids they are in charge of.

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Waterman
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Waterman
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 12:25 pm 
After spending the better part of a afternoon putting out a abandoned campfire 2 quarts at a time I purchased a collapsible bucket. Pyrite suggests adding a little soap. Great idea. Will include for future use. Abandoned campfires is a problem we all have to be ready to address.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
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Bernardo
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Bernardo
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PostMon Oct 17, 2022 5:35 pm 
I came across a creeping fire two summers ago and got it out after a lot of effort. It was still small and had spread out from under a well ringed fire pit. If a fire isn’t on real dirt this can happen. Based on the comments in this thread already, this isn’t that uncommon. I realized after I worked with a two liter bag for a long while, that I could have brought a lot more water on the scene faster if I had used a large water proof stuff sack I was carrying.

dave allyn
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