Western NY forest fires

Western folks, you going to have spaced out glade skiing over the next few years, any good pitches being burned?

Fire in the Hudson Valley/Gunks too!

Ulster Co. fires

Don’t laugh about the dry weather. I just drove from Glens Falls to Tupper Lake and back today it’s scary dry in the Adirondacks. The Hudson is already summer low looking and the long straight section between Long Lake and Tupper all the roadsides are crisp dry looking. If you’re out and about in the mountains be careful with fire.

I'm alway amazed at how quickly we go from winter to fire danger season.  And this year snow fall was well below average. On top of that there was little rain.

Think about that: 150 inches is a normal season at Gore and we got 115 AND there was very little rain.

I have to say, fires are dangerous and can destroy lives and homes but it's a natural process. The the Adirondacks could benefit from some forest fires

Chris wrote

I have to say, fires are dangerous and can destroy lives and homes but it's a natural process. The the Adirondacks could benefit from some forest fires

It's a natural process, but not always beneficial.  It really depends on the intensity of the blaze.

We live in a high fire danger area.  My house is on the edge of the Wenatchee National Forest.  The majority of my property is forested.  4 out of the 5 years we have been out here, there have been multiple wild fires in our area.  In 2013, we were evacuated for 2 weeks due to a 140,000 acre blaze burning is the canyon directly behind our house.  It was crazy.  The fire was so large that it began creating it's own weather.  The heat was so intense that large stands of trees on the backside of the ski area were completely vaporized.  Fortunately, there was a "happy ending" with 19 inches of fresh snow in early October that put everything out is less than 12 ours.  Last year, we had the largest fire in state history about 50 miles North of us.  Over 500 homes burned in a situation that was described a fire storm of historical proportions.  It really hits home when people close to your area lose their homes.

It's something I have started to get used to.  I love living in the forest.  It's a lot of work, but I have things setup so my home is defended pretty well.  This season won't be any different.  It's a combination luck an preparation.  I'm prepared... hopefully we'll get lucky.  

There's a fire near the back side of Hunter right now. Heavenly Valley Rd. Lanesville...

nepa wrote

Chris wrote

I have to say, fires are dangerous and can destroy lives and homes but it's a natural process. The the Adirondacks could benefit from some forest fires

It's a natural process, but not always beneficial.  It really depends on the intensity of the blaze.

We live in a high fire danger area.  My house is on the edge of the Wenatchee National Forest.  The majority of my property is forested.  4 out of the 5 years we have been out here, there have been multiple wild fires in our area.  In 2013, we were evacuated for 2 weeks due to a 140,000 acre blaze burning is the canyon directly behind our house.  It was crazy.  The fire was so large that it began creating it's own weather.  The heat was so intense that large stands of trees on the backside of the ski area were completely vaporized.  Fortunately, there was a "happy ending" with 19 inches of fresh snow in early October that put everything out is less than 12 ours.  Last year, we had the largest fire in state history about 50 miles North of us.  Over 500 homes burned in a situation that was described a fire storm of historical proportions.  It really hits home when people close to your area lose their homes.

It's something I have started to get used to.  I love living in the forest.  It's a lot of work, but I have things setup so my home is defended pretty well.  This season won't be any different.  It's a combination luck an preparation.  I'm prepared... hopefully we'll get lucky.

I've never been that close to fire, obviously with that post I've never thought about folks put in that position.  Glad that you guys lucked out.  I guess the tone I was taking was "boy it'd be nice if we had some forest fires in N-NE facing aspects of mountains in the adks"

Chris wrote

I guess the tone I was taking was "boy it'd be nice if we had some forest fires in N-NE facing aspects of mountains in the adks"

Absolutely, and that's exactly what I usually think when fires break out around us.  Our 2013 fire opened up some really nice backcountry skiing in the zone behind our house.