Season's last burn: again

We thought we were finished with burns for spring 2013 but there had been one burn on our list which we had not done. This was a small but difficult burn at the corner of County Highway F and Pleasant Valley Road. This involves what we call Unit 14 plus the small quarry above that we are turning into a dry prairie. This area is difficult to incorporate into other burns. In addition, its aspect is such that it does not dry out quickly.

Tuesday May 7 the weather conditions were perfect for this burn. The temperature was promised to be in the low 70's, R.H. around 25%, and wind out of the east at 5 mph. As the photo shows, this burn unit is surrounded with areas that had already been burned, plus the two highways. Because of this and the size of the burn, we could do it with a small crew (3 people).

The quarry was burned first. Since this is contained within rock walls, no fire breaks were needed. Because of the burn conditions, the slope, and some flammable trees, the whole of Unit 14 was burned as a backfire. Because backburning is slow, it took about 1.5 hours to do this burn.

Now we really are finished burns for the season!