[PeakOiler]

The grassfire came within 100 meters (yards) from my house. My rooftop is in the background. Look how desiccated the fields are:



This picture is panned just a little to the right:



This is what was coming straight at my house:



Another:



The wind gusts were over 20 mph, and perhaps more. The fire was beginning to produce it's own wind.

I sure am glad the fire department had fuel for their water trucks.

I'm going to sleep very uneasily tonight. Stuff is still smoldering out there.
Pray for rain in Central Texas please!

[PeakOiler]

When one sees an entire oak or cedar tree erupt into a ball of flame, the grasses around it, and the fire is coming in your direction, well, I will tell you that I was (am) scared. I sure would hate to lose everything I've been working on around here to a grassfire...

[hardtootell]

Sorry to hear that you have had such a scare. I bought a property early this year. It was nearly burned by a similar wildfire that was stopped w/in 500 yards. I bought the fire dept a case of beer and shook their hands and thanked them for their courage.

Stupid question- not meant to antagonize or anything:

Why stay in a place were this kinda natural disaster (and others) seems imminent?

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hardtootell', 'S')orry to hear that you have had such a scare. I bought a property early this year. It was nearly burned by a similar wildfire that was stopped w/in 500 yards. I bought the fire dept a case of beer and shook their hands and thanked them for their courage.
Stupid question- not meant to antagonize or anything: Why stay in a place were this kinda natural disaster (and others) seems imminent?

[PeakOiler]

The grass fire made the local news: News Article
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ERTRAM, TEXAS (KXAN) - A large grass fire broke out in Bertram after it ignited at HWY 29 and burnt northwest to a mile and a half outside of Bertram. According to the Bertram Fire Department, 250 acres of land were affected by the flames which have now been contained. The fire kept re-flaring due to the humidity and high winds. The fire was at risk of spreading to structures but the emergency efforts prevented it. The Bertram Fire Department was assisted by Spicewood Fire, Burnet County Fire, Marble Falls Fire, Granite Shoals, Cedar Park Fire, Leander Fire, Liberty Hill Fire, AFD and the Texas Forestry services.

The Bertram Fire Department will continue to monitor the fire for 24-36 hours to ensure that it is safely out.

[PeakOiler]

The light rain hasn't put out all the fires:



The firemen doused the large oak in the background with some water, otherwise it would have completely burned up.

As I type this, the fire crews are back out spraying more water on the hotspots.

[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

Wow! That's pretty scary! This problem begs for a solution. I'm glad disaster avoided you and hope that it always does.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', '[')img]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p142/PeakOiler/GrassFire4.jpg[/img]

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakingAroundtheCorner', 'W')ow! That's pretty scary! This problem begs for a solution. I'm glad disaster avoided you and hope that it always does.

[wisconsin_cur]

I hope that wasn't your fence in one of the pics... from my angle it looked like you would need to change out the posts if it was.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'I') hope that wasn't your fence in one of the pics... from my angle it looked like you would need to change out the posts if it was.

[Ludi]

Yikes! That's the kind of thing that scares the bejeezus out of me, especially since our neighbors like to burn brushpiles, not necessarily when it's safe to do so.

I need to cut more firebreaks....

Sure glad your places escaped harm, PeakOiler!

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'Y')ikes! That's the kind of thing that scares the bejeezus out of me, especially since our neighbors like to burn brushpiles, not necessarily when it's safe to do so.

I need to cut more firebreaks....

Sure glad your places escaped harm, PeakOiler!

[Ludi]

Low/small brush piles are less of a fire hazard than standing deadwood. But I will be careful not to put them close together or anywhere near the house!

We've cleared most of the cedars away from the house and outbuildings, so fire danger there is minimized, but we do have some dense stands of mature cedar with large amounts of low dead limbs. Even living cedar is a fire hazard if the fire gets hot enough, you can get "crown fires" like they do in the West, where the flames spread from tree to tree until it becomes a firestorm. Fortunately, so far our area has been spared these kinds of fires, but if the drought continues into next year, we might see some of these Western-style fires in the Hill Country.

I sure hope not.

[Jotapay]

Have you thought about creating some fire breaks? The ground cover here in Central Texas doesn't provide as much fuel as the brush in California and should be easier to clear. It will make a nice walking path around your place as well.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'L')ow/small brush piles are less of a fire hazard than standing deadwood. But I will be careful not to put them close together or anywhere near the house!

We've cleared most of the cedars away from the house and outbuildings, so fire danger there is minimized, but we do have some dense stands of mature cedar with large amounts of low dead limbs. Even living cedar is a fire hazard if the fire gets hot enough, you can get "crown fires" like they do in the West, where the flames spread from tree to tree until it becomes a firestorm. Fortunately, so far our area has been spared these kinds of fires, but if the drought continues into next year, we might see some of these Western-style fires in the Hill Country.

I sure hope not.

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakingAroundtheCorner', 'W')ow! That's pretty scary! This problem begs for a solution. I'm glad disaster avoided you and hope that it always does.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dunewalker', '
')The solution to the problem is illustrated in the photos. That is, annual burning.

[Jotapay]

My best prediction, using my Geology degree (paleo-climatology, etc.) and other science classes that I took, is that climate change is going to accentuate the severity of historical weather patterns. Drier regions will get drier, wetter years will get wetter, etc. We in Central Texas are in a transition zone, between wetter coastal regions and the drier interior, so we will see the effect of both drier and wetter extremes, depending on which is dominant at the time.

Last year (record rain and floods) and this year (scant rain at all) are not that unexpected when using this model. I think that we will have to be able to weather long drought and intense rainy periods in the future if we want to prosper in this area. Luckily we are not in extremely close proximity to the violent Gulf of Mexico, but close enough to get adequate humidity from it and the resultant rainfall over the long term.

Another effect of climate change towards a hot house environment is that the tropical latitude bands are going to expand away from the equator. So the tropical weather patterns and rainfall that they bring are going to move farther northwards into the USA, making it slightly more tropical in the southern states.