{"id":6536,"date":"2024-04-30T03:46:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T07:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?p=6536"},"modified":"2024-04-30T05:55:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T09:55:52","slug":"prime-fire-season-for-the-backlands-is-upon-us-30apr2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?p=6536","title":{"rendered":"Prime fire season for the Backlands coming up 30Apr2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leading edge of burnt barrens<\/strong>, Lower Mud Pond area on May 4, 2009<\/p><\/div>\n

The Spryfield Fire of 2009<\/a>, which burned about 2\/3 of the Backlands, destroyed 8 homes and damaged 10 others, occurred April 29-May 1, 2009.<\/p>\n

Fire Season in NS: April to October<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fire season in Nova Scotia is considered to be April to October. Generally we expect May to be the busiest fire season.<\/p>\n

The frequency of fires changes throughout the fire season (April to October). May is usually the busiest month due to the fact that vegetation hasn\u2019t fully come out of dormancy and begun to grow. The moisture content of these fuels is low, making them are more flammable. This is known as a \u201cbefore green up\u201d condition\u00a0 \u2013 NRR:\u00a0Wildfire<\/a>\u00a0(accessed 15May 2022)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cFire break on the Seven Mile Lake fire<\/strong>\u00a0made by heavy equipment to remove all combustible material down to bare mineral soil. (Donna Crossland)\u201d View\u00a0CBC report<\/a>\u00a0(Aug 17, 2016)<\/p><\/div>\n

With increasing droughtiness\u00a0 during our summers and sometimes well into fall, we are seeing more fires in the summer and fall seasons.\u00a0 These later\u00a0 fires can be more damaging than in the spring\u00a0 and much more difficult to control. Spring fires, \u00a0while they may burn all above-ground vegetation, burn only the very surface of the soil as most of the soil is still water saturated. But following prolonged drought in late summer\/fall, the soil can dry out right down to the bedrock; then a forest\u00a0 fire will burn organic materials well below the soil surface and can continue to smoulder below-gound even after the fire above-ground has been extinguished.<\/p>\n

So we need to be on the lookout for fires all through the fire season (April to October), and especially in the Backlands.<\/p>\n

Advice to hikers that I heard recently\u00a0 on CBC was to check the fire index before setting out, and if you see a fire to note its location, report it ASAP, and\u00a0 get out as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

More nuanced and very useful, potentially life-saving advice on what to do if you see a fire is offered by Katie on\u00a0Outdoors and On the Go<\/a>; or view the text only\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Recent campfire residues on the Jack Pine-Crowberry barrens<\/strong>,\u00a0May 2, 2016<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Needless to say \u2013 0r perhaps it needs to be said (re: photo at left):\u00a0 setting fires of any sort in the Backlands should be a no-no.<\/p>\n

The photo\u00a0 shows campfire residues on\u00a0 Jack Pine-Crowberry barrens, viewed on May 2, 2016. As well as being immediately hazardous \u2013 the campfire was set in the most flammable area of the Backlands and at a time of year especially prone to fire \u2013\u00a0 the not-cleaned-up residues convey the message: \u201cIt\u2019s OK to have campfires here\u201d. It isn\u2019t!<\/p>\n

Wishing everyone Safe Travels in the Backlands, Anytime!<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0david p<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

SOME RELATED PAGES ON THIS WEBSITE<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Fire Scars & Old Trees<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0Fire Ecology<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0JP-Crowberry Barrens & Fire Mgmt<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0Surviving a Wildfire while Hiking<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0HRM & NS Fire Links<\/a><\/p>\n

SOME RELATED POSTS ON THIS WEBSITE<\/p>\n

– Towards a combined Conservation\/Fire Management Strategy for the Backlands 26Oct2023<\/a>
\n– Fire-scarred white pines are a reminder that it\u2019s Fire Season \u2013 especially in the Backlands 19May2023<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0Recent fire and fire management in the New Jersey Pine Barrens: a model for the Backlands? 12Jul2022<\/a>
\n\u2013\u00a0Mapping forest fire risk in the Eastern Chebucto Peninsula Backlands<\/a>\u00a0(Post Apr 29, 2021)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Spryfield Fire of 2009, which burned about 2\/3 of the Backlands, destroyed 8 homes and damaged 10 others, occurred April 29-May 1, 2009. Fire Season in NS: April to October Fire season in Nova Scotia is considered to be … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-fire-ecology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6536"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6548,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536\/revisions\/6548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}