Drought year begs caution

The predicament is likely to happen any year, but this year the likelihood has risen tenfold. We are headed into a drought year and recreating in the outdoors requires special care.

The excitement of camping, fishing, hunting and hiking builds as the longtime recognized first outing of the camping year, Memorial Day weekend, approaches.

At this time, during the first part of May, the fire danger level is low throughout the state, but that won't last long.

"Usually by Memorial Day weekend, we head into the moderate fire danger level and by mid July we get into the high level," State Department of Natural Resources Fire Prevention Coordinator Debbie Robinson said.

All things equal to a normal year, the regular annual pattern would fall into place, but this is supposed to be a drought year.

"Fire level is all weather driven," Robinson said. "We've had a few showers, but some wind also and that dries out the land."

Because of the lack of normal water, outdoor enthusiasts can expect the pattern to be early this year, "Two to three weeks early this year," according to Robinson.

Which means the moderate level may still begin around Memorial Day weekend, but the high level of fire danger could arrive as early as the last week of June.

DNR is careful not to cry wolf about the dangers of fire too early in the season.

"The fire danger is not critical this week, but it won't be too long and when we are at that critical stage we don't want people to turn a deaf ear about the fire danger," Robinson said.

I understand her concern, but it is difficult to figure people would disregard fire safety at any time of the year. Yet, I've witnessed sheer acts of stupidity where fire is involved. Once a neighboring camping family built a fire that had flames three feet high and sparks ascending into the overhead evergreen canopy.

A campfire can be likened to a large, out-of-place knife. During a visit with Chuck Buck, head of the Buck Knife Company, I inquired why they made such a large fixed-blade knife as the General model? His answer was simple, "Because people buy them."

The follow up question, "Why would someone buy such a large knife?" was answered with a one-word reply, "Ignorance."

Such a large knife as the General serves no practical purpose, even as a survival knife. Savvy outdoorsmen and women know this and choose a smaller knife.

The scenario is similar with campfires. Bigger is not necessarily better. Photos from pioneer days reveal a rather large fire ring with moderate flames dancing around the wood in one corner, a small fire. The cook was busy at another corner, working with skillets and Dutch ovens over the coals.

The small fire would reduce the wood to coals and the cook would move them around as needed. These days, very few of us cook over a fire and if the cook knows what he/she was doing, they would cook over coals and not fire in the first place.

This year especially, make only a small campfire, if you build a fire at all. The alternative is to use a gas stove to cook and perhaps even a gas campfire.

Usually when fires are banned, gas appliances are allowed. This allows campers to cook on the camp stove, but coals of any kind, even the preformed kind bought in a sort, are prohibited.

If the fact that being responsible for a forest fire and damaging the forest and perhaps causing injury to other people and animals doesn't make every camper stop and think about being more careful, maybe the fact that the person responsible is often billed with the expense of the fire will straighten them out. We are talking about thousands of dollars here folks and perhaps criminal prosecution.

Enjoy the outdoors, have fun out there, but be careful, too.