Humans and Wildfire

The latest research notes that 84% of wildfires are started by humans (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/27/517100594/whats-the-leading-cause-of-wildfires-in-the-u-s-humans). The National Park Service notes as many as 90% (https://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/learning-center/fire-in-depth/wildfire-causes.cfm).

We had our own example last night of how humans cause wildfires. Just when we thought our evening’s campfire experience couldn't get more bizarre, it did.

Shortly before the whole smoke invading the trailer incident began, we noticed someone pull up to an open campsite not far from us. They arrived in a truck towing a boat. There appeared to be several people in the truck. The campsite was downwind from us and located in a nearly deserted part of the campground. There was only one other trailer in the vicinity between us and the new arrival. They didn’t have an RV, just the boat. I didn’t see them haul out a tent.

What I did see was a man get out of the truck and proceed to start a fire. Then whatever he was up to took a backseat to the inferno ruckus. Shortly after we returned to our trailer following the inferno dying down, we noticed the man and his passengers driving off from the campsite with their boat, leaving the fire they had started going. And I don’t mean smoldering as in maybe they thought it was going out or out. I mean still actively flaming. As far as we could tell, no one in the truck had even attempted to put it out.

Pat went over to extinguish it. He returned and reported that the fire wasn’t started in a fire ring but in a ring of loosely placed stones about five feet from the prairie grassland that borders our side of the campground. He said some grass along the edges of the stones had already started on fire by the time he arrived.

This morning I went over to check out this circle of stones. It was incomplete at best. No fire should have been started there as it currently is and certainly not one left unattended. We also discovered that the truck and boat were parked by a trailer this morning in the more populated part of the campground upwind of us. That left us even more perplexed about the reason for the fire.

Pat said that as he was finishing up with extinguishing the fire, a truck (not the same one with the boat) pulled up on the road beside the campsite. The driver didn’t say anything or get out, just shortly drove on. So maybe someone associated with the truck\boat group came back to put out the fire. Or not. All I know for certain is that no true sportsman starts a fire then drives away leaving it to potentially burn down his playground.

Truly unsportsman-like conduct. 

Pictured below is the incomplete circle of stones and its proximity to the prairie grassland.