Thanks, Jacqui,
We noticed and discussed several things we could be more proactive about as far
as preparation for fire. Your suggestions are very helpful.
We certainly also will not do burns without lots of prep and the proper
notifications and permissions.
This fire started because a neighbor was having welding done on his fence, and
it started a fire and got out of control before he knew it had happened. He
did not have a spotter with him, from what I was told.
We look forward to hearing from you about today, and thanks again for your
comments and help.
Linda
"J. LaRue Thomas" <jlrbi...@sonoratx.net> wrote: There does need to be a
better way to get help than email--I was out working in the field and I could
have been down there with my firefighting gear. I've worked with both Val
Verde and Edwards County departments on grassfires as we have mutual aid
agreements with all neighboring counties.
I guess they thought it was under control as they did not call in Sonora. The
'dozer probably is one of the TX Forest Service ones and those folks are more
than happy to help people to become more fire resistant. Good you all thought
to ask.
May I suggest TCMA somebodies talk to local fire people about what fire
prevention measures they would like to see us effect at our place. Since
people rarely ask and even more rarely do what's suggested, we'd make local
fire people really happy.
This is one of the worst fire seasons in years (our department was on fire
lines for over 50 hours in five days last week) and no rain in sight, so let's
get something going soon.
There is a burn association for Edwards--same one as ours, I think. It sets
up prescribed burns. I can contact them for TCMA if no one else has. Please do
not burn anything preemptively without going through them.
Anyone know how this one started? Jacqui
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Kennedy
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 5:32 PM
Subject: [Texascavers] Carta Valley brushfire
Allan Cobb just called me from the TCMA fieldhouse and all is now under
control. He took lots of photos of the helicopter dumping water, the fire,
and so on. He'll show them at the next UT Grotto meeting. It got to within
100 yards of the cabin. The 'dozer brought in by the local fire departments
made a big difference. While it was there, Allan and Linda talked them into
clearing more brush from around the cabin and widening the road from the
cabin to the caves. They knocked back a lot of brush and now we have a
better firebreak. The road acted like a pretty good firebreak as it was,
but if the fire was more serious it could have easily jumped the road. We
also have a better parking area in front of the cabin, courtesy of the
'dozer.
As Allan said, we dodged the bullet on that one. Perhaps we should give
some serious thought to brush control, additional water supplies, and other
ways to help fireproof the cabin. Maybe even some pre-emptive prescribed
burns to reduce the fuel load.
-- Crash
