Please, Don't Be an Idiot

Dozens of fires are burning right now in Arizona, Texas, and Alaska. I can't speak for the other states, but Arizona is bone dry. This is our normal dry season and we are at risk of fires every summer before the monsoon rains begin, usually in early July. Sometimes the fires are started by dry lightning strikes - from building thunderstorms that don't have enough moisture to provide rain but still plenty of electrical activity. Sometimes fires are started by people, such as in the case of the Chediski fire, which was started by a lost person trying to signal a helicopter. That fire grew to be the largest in Arizona's history ... up until this week when the Wallow Fire overtook that statistic. If 500,000 acres burned - so far - is hard to visualize, try it this way: over 700 square miles have gone up in flames. That's equivalent to half the state of Rhode Island!

Another fire in Arizona, however, is now dominating the local news because it is affecting people far more directly. The Monument fire down in southeastern Arizona was human-caused. High winds (40-45 mph sustained wind speed for the past week) and very low daytime humidity (5%) have driven this fire fast and furious towards the small city of Sierra Vista which borders Ft. Huachuca (known for it military intelligence school). On the way, it has burned through 47 homes in mountain canyons already and forced evacuation of three thousand homes from neighborhoods in the foothills and flats below the mountain range. I have family and friends currently displaced from their homes, waiting on pins and needles to see whether the firefighters can keep it from roaring through their neighborhoods.

In addition to the wind and humidity issues, there is a higher fuel load this year for fires to consume. Due to a very unusual hard freeze in early May that killed a lot of frost-sensitive native plants and landscaping, there is a tremendous amount of tinder-dry dead vegetation. My relatives reported that they were desperately trying to remove 20 foot high dead desert broom bordering their property fence while in the pre-evacuation stage this week.

So, with these super-dry, very windy conditions in the SouthWest, I am asking you not to be an idiot. If you smoke, remember that the world is not your ashtray. Keep your butt(s) in the car! I can't tell you how many burned spots along roads and highways show up in this state from idiots flicking their lit cigarette butt out the car window as they're driving.

The national forest has been closed here for over a week, as the resources of this state are already stretched very thin and the last thing we need is another forest fire. That should minimize new fires started by careless idiot campers leaving fires unattended. Nevertheless, these same people might decide to have campfires elsewhere on private or public lands.

Don't be an idiot and kick off a much larger fire! Building a campfire is easy to do safely and every camper worth their salt knows how. Clear adequate space, dig a shallow bowl, line with big rocks, and build a small fire. Never, ever, leave the fire unattended. When done for the night (or day), extinguish completely with water and dirt, stirring to make sure it is totally out. A single hot ember can spark a wildfire! If you can't reach in and touch the dirty, muddy, ashy mess because it's still too hot, you're not done yet.

If you go target-shooting or hunting, be aware that steel-core ammo (generally foreign military surplus) can start a grass fire from the spark created if the bullet hits a rock. Do your target shooting at a proper range where the vegetation has been cleared and there is an appropriate backstop. For hunting, try archery!

With 4th of July coming up and fireworks now legal in this state (thanks to the idiots in Phoenix), we are already looking at our property here to see what we might need to do should a local idiot decide setting off fireworks in their brushy yard would be fun. Since they are more visible at night, the added danger of drunken firework displays is even more concerning. Although we prefer hand tools to power ones, we've assessed the risk and decided we should pick up a small chainsaw to have on hand for emergency tree removal. Better that than lose everything we've worked so hard for. My sweetie just pointed out, too, that we will be sure to purchase a chainsaw with a "spark arrester" on it.

Fires sometimes start by accident as well. Yesterday's "Antelope Fire" even closer to Sierra Vista and Ft. Huachuca started when sparks from a bulldozer clearing a firebreak ignited dry brush. It burned through 2,000 acres in no time, racing towards houses very nearby. If you are operating any heavy machinery, please be very, very careful!

And, for those of you not familiar with the rules of the West which are common sense to the natives, do not ever pull your vehicle off the road into tall dry grasses or weeds and park. The hot catalytic converter can (and does) start brush fires. In our current red flag conditions, these can roar out of control and threaten the lives, livelihoods, and homes of people unfortunate enough to live nearby.

So, please, I implore you again: Don't be an idiot. That brain in your skull is there for you to use, not just to keep the skull from collapsing in. Keep your butts in the car, don't build a campfire, skip the fireworks or go to a community display that has firefighters on standby, watch out with your heavy machinery, and don't park on the grass. And, of course, don't play with matches!