I don’t know why it is, but it seems like many Interior West media outlets are full of bad news. Here are the themes: things are worse than we thought, and other people (particularly people in the Interior West) are really messed up. I think here of Wyofile, Mountain West News Service, and the High Country News, for example. Then there’s the Center for Western Priorities (if only Republicans would go away, we’d live in rainbow and unicorn country) but at least they don’t claim to be unbiased. And the writers are generally very earnest (if perhaps they have a tendency to fit facts to predictable narratives). But after looking for interesting tidbits among all these sources, it’s always good to come back to.. the Cowboy State Daily – not least for comic relief. Some of you Forest Service folks may remember the humor of a Law Enforcement newsletter that I remember on the Data General. I wonder if they are still writing them? It was a round up of LE stories told with a laconic sense of humor.
This article highlights forest spokesperson Aaron Voos of the Medicine-Bow Routt National Forest. Check the link to the Deseret News in the story for other weird fire starts. One of my favorites was that riders need to check behind them because horseshoes on rocks give off sparks.
Happy Friday, everyone!
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The spokesman for Medicine Bow National Forest is warning visitors to avoid lighting spiders on fire, at least outside of a fire ring, or else they could cause a wildfire like a Utah man did this week.
“That’s a first, I’ve never heard of that one,” forest spokesman Aaron Voos told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. “You should definitely not try and burn spiders. We can all learn from that.”
On Monday, a Utah man saw a spider while hiking in Springville, Utah, according to the Deseret News. For an unknown reason, he attempted to light the spider on fire and sparked a 60-acre wildfire.
Cory Martin, 26, was arrested on suspicion of reckless burn and possession of marijuana after police discovered a jar of the drug in his belongings. The fire had been 90% contained as of late Tuesday.
Voos said in Medicine Bow National Forest, the most common types of fires are caused by unattended, or neglected, campfires.
According to the National Park Service, around 85% of wildfires are caused by humans, either through negligence (such as leaving a campfire unattended or discarding a still-lit cigarette) or arson.
“Any sort of scenario where you are responsible for an ignition source, whether it’s a lighter to burn a spider or a chainsaw or a car muffler, you’re responsible for your actions,” Voos said. “You need to utilize that ignition source safely. You need to be aware of any fire restrictions. It’s very important that you follow basic guidelines.”
Voos said the only way burning a spider would have been (technically) OK is if the arachnid had been inside of a fire ring, which is established to keep campfires from spreading.
A human-caused wildfire, the Sugarloaf Fire, is currently burning within Medicine Bow and has grown to 839 acres as of Wednesday.
Voos did not say whether he believed the fire was caused by a person attempting to burn a spider or any other insect, only that the source of the fire was still under investigation.
Funny they didn’t mention the name of the fire – presumably “Arachnid,” or something similar. (Or are there rules for naming fires that wouldn’t allow this?)
A co-worker of mine had his first IC experience on a lightning fire. He said he always wanted to be the Ugly IC, so he named the fire the “Ugly Fire”. We knocked it down and kept it to 1/10 of an acre, at the top of a steep 2000 foot dropoff to the American River.