Spring Fires and Caring Friends

Since I’ve had people ask, I thought I should let them know how the fire situation is here. We did get some rain this past week, with more coming tomorrow, but as far as fires goes, the rains actually create more danger. People become more careless when it rains because they think the danger is over. Just one day of high winds and warm temperatures will erase any sign of rain, and fuel the fire danger.

First, some history of the spring fire season here. It has been very dry. Yes, we have had some of the fires on our property, but not the most recent ones you hear about in the news. Thanks to a neighbor, we don’t have to worry about wild fires getting to us any more, since he already burned off about 25 acres of our property, and most of the contact points where a wild fire would get to us.

We keep around the house and barns pretty well cleaned out, but the bulk of our acreage is actually pasture or wooded and away from view. So, the morning a retired neighbor knocked on the door, before breakfast, to tell us we had fire, we were thankful. The fire had already climbed the ridge and was heading to pastures, and another neighbors.

We all put on our shoes and headed out the door to gather shovels and rakes. This is not that usual a routine, but enough so we know what needs to be done. We opened gates and headed to the “back 40” to find the fire. It didn’t take us long to find it. It was spread over a quarter mile. We got straight to work and called Jay to contact the proper authorities to come help us. We knew we couldn’t put this one out alone.

The 911 rant I shall save for another day, but I ended up having to stop fighting the fire myself, get my phone and call 911, since Jay was in Tulsa he couldn’t contact our local 911, and they don’t communicate. So, with the kids and the neighbor fighting the fire, I got on the phone. I had to go to the front of the property to show the fire department where they were going when they finally got here. It was a very long morning, culminating in a hike along the back fence line to see that yes, the fire had been started by the same neighbor whose fires we had been putting out all summer. Well, 2 fire departments and a forestry service bulldozer and professional fire lighter visit later, we found ourselves having breakfast at Chili’s at 1:00p.m. Probably about 25 acres had burned, and the forestry service back burned more to keep any flare ups from happening.

That same night, I was back down below the ridge, in what we call the bottom, to check an make sure we had no rekindles, when what did I see? That neighbor back out there with his matches!!! So, I called the fire department again, and they came, told me the fire was out and it was just the neighbor burning off pasture, no big deal. Huh? They just had two fire departments and the forestry service out here putting out that guys fires and now it is no big deal he’s lighting them again? No one wanted to talk to this guy and tell him to stop. So, we caught him when we were down there a few days later, and Jay gave him a good talking to.

Now, you are wondering about the new fires. Well, people often think lightening or arson when they hear about these fires. Our experience is that they are often lit by well meaning property owners who think they are going to clean things up around their property to save having to worry about fire. In reality, when the fire gets across the fence, they become blind to the plight of their neighbors.

This week, when Jay went looking for one of the golden’s who didn’t come back after a run, he drove around to a back neighbors and saw the fire. He didn’t think much of it because it was three properties behind us, and well, all the connecting property on our side had already been burned, bulldozed and saved from further fire incursions. Two days later though, I got up to smoke in the air. Was that fire still burning? Or was this a new one? I looked around, far from us obviously, but not that far. Didn’t think anything of it.

Thursday, Brenna notified me that we had company driving up the drive. So, I headed out to the deck to see a nice, black Ford Excursion pulling up to the house. The fellow inside looked like the typical real estate person, so I assumed it was a realtor visit, since one had been here last week to leave literature hoping to convince us to list with them instead of selling by ourselves.

What I got was, in the end, a pleasant surprise. A state inspector had just pulled into my yard to ask about the neighbor who keeps lighting thing afire and the neighbor by him who has the same penchant!! YEAH!! Finally, someone took notice of the plight of the residents of Mayes county. He asked where he could find said neighbors and I was more than happy to supply him with any information I had, including phone numbers.

Evidently, the state has gotten to the point they are finally tired of these two guys setting the country side ablaze, and have sent a state inspector to investigate and talk to them. I hope it works.

The fires you hear about on the news aren’t near us, but these ones near us don’t even make the news. Often, this little corner of Oklahoma goes unnoticed and uncared about. We drive by burn spots in pastures, medians, and just about everywhere on a daily basis. Sometimes it is a thoughtless cigarette toss, other times just pulling a hot vehicle over into the dry grass on the side of the road will start these fires. But, most often, it is an oblivious landowner who doesn’t care about the fire once it crosses the fence line. Thanks to our neighbor, you shouldn’t have to worry about any of the wildfires reaching us the rest of the fire season. We had ours.

I do hope that everyone realizes that a simple brush fire, or burning a fence row, can lead to a dangerous situation for neighbors who are hoping to go about their usual days. One of these fires, a few counties over, even took the life of a local volunteer firefighter our son-in-law worked with.

So, thanks for asking how we were fairing through all of this. And help us get the word out, that even the most innocent fire can cost property owners and communities.