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We're living with fire

Editor's Corner

By David Richards

(Updated: Friday, August 01, 2008, 6:13 PM)

It's been a scary summer for the Mountain Area.

The fire season kicked off in a hurry when lightning-caused blazes touched down near Ponderosa Basin and Fish Camp in June.

That, we now know, was just the beginning.

Last weekend the Telegraph fire broke out near the Midpines area of Mariposa County as a result of a target shooting incident.

The fire had already torched more than 26,000 acres as of Tuesday, destroyed 25 residences and threatened 4,000 more.

The blaze is being fueled by high temperatures, low humidity, and heavy and dry vegetation. Making matters worse for firefighters is the steep terrain and the difficult access.

This fire season should be a clear reminder that fire danger here is very, very real.

In 1961, the Harlow Fire devastated the Nipinnawasee, Ahwahnee and Oakhurst area and burned close to 50,000 acres in a hurry. This latest fire, while burning in Mariposa County, has similar characteristics and grew to 20,000 acres in eight hours.

A fire here can be caused in a million different ways simply because our vegetation in the summer is yellow, dry and blankets portions of our communities.

June's fire was caused by lightning; last weekend's fire was caused by a shooting incident. A couple of years ago, fires broke out nearly every weekend in Mariposa County set by an arsonist. Fires also can be started by lawn mowers, weedeaters and by driving cars and all-terrain vehicles through dry grass.

We need to use common sense, and make sure our homes have a 100-ft. clearance surrounding them, free of brush and vegetation.

The Mountain Area may just have some of the best wildland firefighters in the state, personnel who are trained to protect our communities.

We appreciate all of their efforts, as well as the efforts of our local law enforcement and all of the Red Cross and fire agencies who have come from out of state and even from out of the country (thank you Greece!) to help us in our time of need.

Fire awareness has to be a collective mountain effort. Let's all do our part.

The issues above are discussed and chosen by the Sierra Star editorial board, made up of Betty E. Linn, publisher, and David Richards, editor.