Shard

Arson! How can anyone be that stupid.

Shard

I guess there must be many dead and fallen trees that are extremely dry. That would be the priority to clear. Maybe thus tragedy will focus minds.

BritInParis

That and the existing trees are simply too densely packed.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/californ...t-13380388.php

Shard

Interesting. Time for some forestry managment then. Perhaps a job for the 'caravan of workers' on their way !

robin1234

My point exactly.

robin1234

"]Experts point to a century’s worth of fire suppression as one factor in allowing forests to build up a dangerous amount of flammable material. Tom Bonnicksen, a retired forestry and wildfire expert who spent years researching fires in California, told The Chronicle that forests around Paradise contained about 2,000 trees per acre when he studied the area about a decade ago. A healthy forest should have between 60 and 80 trees per acre, he said."

I wonder how they count those trees per acre? I have about 100 -120 trees per acre, if you count just mature trees. But if you count saplings of various sizes (i.e. ones small enough to cut down with a bow saw) there are probably over a thousand per acre. I don't really see how you can generalise about forestry management, with all the different terrain types, drainage patterns, species mixes, not to mention economic priorities. (Are the trees a cash crop? Etc.)

BritInParis

I suspect we got the abbreviated version of that observation.

steveq

There are strict criteria for the selection of trees on a site, which will have lead to that figure I suspect.

scrubbedexpat099

I have thought of buying say 5 acres of pine, I mainly get aspen as it is easier and local. I get through 12 to 15 cords a years and by my calculations 5 acres would give me an everlasting supply.

If I get a FS permit costs $20 a cord but seems many just get one..., and you can not go more that 15ft? off a road, which would not be so bad if they had not closed most of the roads so making it impractical, they also limit you to 10 cords, I think the local National Forest is over a million acres.

I remember going to Shiloh many moons ago, they moved whole armies through the forest, it was difficult for an individual to get through, small fires cleared the undergrowth.

Shard

15 chords per year ?! That seems a lot. Do you live in the mountains ?

robin1234

​​​​​​​Hmm when we first moved here we used to get through 20 cords a year. That was just partially heating a four bedroom house. (We now just use 2 or 3 cords a year, relying primarily on oil for heating.)

scrubbedexpat099

Yes

Plus it is soft wood, oak would be a lot less.

Shard

Any risk of fire in your neighborhood? Do you have an escape route planned? It seems these fires start and then spread at high speed.

robin1234

In many vegetation zones, if you neglect a piece of land, it will be covered in trees and underbrush in a surprisingly short space of time. After a few years go by, it will be a very expensive proposition to clear the trees, as contractors with specialist equipment will be needed. What I see in both New York State and England is some house lots, small or large, absolutely choked with trees right up to the building. With hindsight, the homeowner could have mowed, pruned, used a bowsaw - but now it is much too late. These may be poor people, or elderly. And of course it is not just your own house that is in danger if there is a fire, but all your neighbours. Now where I am, northern NYS, forest fires spreading like in the Camp Fire is not a major issue - it rains heavily, all the bloody time, except when it is snowing. England has much less rain, but for some reason a little bit damp sometimes. California, I don't know whether towns and counties impose limits on trees and brush on house lots and other non-forest lots?

scrubbedexpat099

Risk of fire absolutely

I am not at risk, 4? blocks away.

No need for an escape route, I am at the edge of a wide valley.

There was a big fore 20 miles to the South, only ones near me have been grass fires which are relatively easily put out.