Great Savanna Burn

Today the weather really cooperated and we were able to finish our savanna burns and complete our burns for the year. With the cold, wet spring, I had given up hope of getting all our burns in, but patience was rewarded. After the spotty results of last Thursday (see post of 4/17/08), the results for this Monday were all one could ask for. We were able to burn virtually all of our bur oak savannas (Units 8, 10, 11A, B, and C, 12B, and 19. These are all the units in the ridge-top savanna. Check the management map for locations.

The weather was warm (70-80 F) and the humidity fairly low (35-30%). The wind was out of the southwest at 5-10 mph, with a few gusts to 11-12 mph (perfect). The dry conditions were needed, but it was the wind that made our day. It pushed our fire uphill at a vigorous but not too vigorous rate. We have never had such good burns in our savanna. We had a crew of 9, all experienced burners.