Volunteers Across the State Made Us #KSPROUD

Another guest post from one of my friends, Alan Black who traveled two hours to help with the Anderson Creek Fire.  Unlike Dylan who was there are Day 1, things were more controlled and Alan and his crew were there to watch hot spots and let the guys who had been fighting for days get a much needed break.  I was impressed with his view of things.  Alan is also a Volunteer Firefighter who left behind his family to help out as best he could.

On Thursday afternoon March 24th, we got a call that Butler County Task Force 3 was putting together trucks and personnel to mobilize to Medicine Lodge. Saturday morning around 4 a.m, my partner and I left El Dorado for the 2 hour trip down there to relieve our Friday crew.

It's amazing what goes through your mind on your way to a disaster of that scale.
What's it going to look like?
How does a small community handle an influx of that many people and vehicles?
We arrived around 6:20 a.m and prepared for our 12 hour shift on our truck.

Fire trucks, tankers and semi's lined the streets in front of the command post as day shift and night shift strolled in and out of the building with night shift telling the day shift to have a safe and productive day.

The command post room was filled to the gills for the daily briefing on containment and safety concerning the use of the Blackhawks for water drops on that day and Division assignments.

We strolled down to the church for breakfast and to grab a sack lunch for the day's work, being told "Take as much as you need.  We have plenty for you all."

As we proceeded the 20 miles west to Sun City, we were finally getting a bird's eye view of the fire stricken area. Road graders had been used to clear road ditches of all grass and trees to try and stop the fire to no avail.  It still jumped the highway.

We ventured south of Sun City over to the Gyp mine where they had a flare up the day before. My partner and I met up with a Gorham Fire District truck and we toured the area where we would watching hot spots.

One thing that stood out was you couldn't tell that none of these fire fighters had never met or even worked together before. We were all there for one common goal and that was fire containment and structure protection.

Later in the day, we got our first chance to watch the Blackhawks drop water on hot spots in the valleys in our division. It was very interesting to watch considering we never see anything like that in Kansas.

As we looked around, it was blackened ground as far as the eyes could see.  Fences and power lines burnt and laid on the ground. We had the chance to meet up with some of the local fire fighters working on their trucks from a rough 48-60 hour fire fight, and with local ranchers as we traveled their properties checking out fire lines.

The message was always the same "we greatly appreciate everything you guys are doing for us and the communities around us" and one rancher even offered up his bunk house for fire fighters to stay in.

As our shift wrapped up, we did a quick debriefing and headed back to the church for supper with another chance to visit with more locals. Despite everything that that community had been through everybody seemed to be up beat and positive, all grateful for all of us being there. One thing I mentioned in a previous post on Barber County 2016 fire was that the fire fighters are truly the blessed and thankful ones. The hospitality and the amount of food that they kept out for us and the 2 bunk stations was absolutely phenomenal.

Sitting in the church you couldn't help but noticed the stage full of donations to the community and all the extra stuff that was donated for the fire fighters who ended up staying the night in the area.

All we hear about in America anymore is how bad it is, but being part of this fire and seeing everything it just reaffirmed that rural America is still alive and kicking where neighbors help neighbors and everybody was working together for the same cause and fire departments come from all across the state of Kansas from border to border to this small community.

Here are a couple of fun pictures Alan caught driving out to the fire that we just had to share.  ;) -KFM

 

The Anderson Creek Fire Day 1 Volunteer Story

I have asked a few of the Firefighters on the Anderson Creek Fire to share a little about their experiences during the intense fire.  First to respond is Dylan Newman a 23 year old volunteer from Carmen, Oklahoma.  Carmen is a small town in Northwest Oklahoma located in Alfalfa county.  He has been a firefighter in Carmen for four years and currently serves as the assistant chief.  His day job is a custom applicator at the local Farmer's Coop.  Rural Kansas and Oklahoma are protected by brave men and women that leave their day jobs and families behind. Here is Dylan's recollection:

On March 22, 2016 at about 5:30 pm, I received a call from one of my best friends, Fire Chief of the Dacoma Volunteer Fire Department in Dacoma, Oklahoma located in Woods County. He asked if I had guys in town that could respond to a large fire quickly.  I said yes.  He said OK, we have a huge fire near Freedom spreading fast.  I made a few phone calls.  In less than 30 minutes, we were organized and in route to Freedom with 2 grass rigs.  Fire Chief Kevin Irwin and I in one truck and Captain Shawn Belt and long time Carmen firefighter Matthew Oldham in the other truck. 

It's about a 50 mile drive from Carmen to Freedom.  The second we got to the edge of town, we headed out where could clearly see the smoke.  We made a fast trip there turned off highway 64 north onto county road 230 which is about 2 miles east of Camp Houston. We arrived on scene to see a raging wildfire that was like nothing we had ever seen before.

We met up with 2 Dacoma FD units and a brush rig from I believe Elwood Township, Kansas.  We went north up county road 230 and decided that we would make an attempt to make a stand on the head fire when it went to cross the road.  We also had a Woods County dozer and grader there making fire breaks. In seconds, the fire was almost to us, we got lined up on the road ready to fight fire like we had many times, but this time went much different.  We sat on the road with grass, cedar trees and canyons on both sides ready to go and before I knew it, the fire was on us.  The main head fire roared up out of the canyon just in front of our truck. I was on the back in the man well area, where we fight fire from, and before I knew it the fire was roaring up out if the canyon next to us.

I couldn't see.

I couldn't breath.

It was the most intense heat I've ever felt on a grass fire.

At that time, we realized we couldn't stop it and had to evacuate, but we couldn't quickly due to the fire trucks behind us trying to get out.

We couldn't go forward due to the fire.

We were sitting ducks.

Everything happened so fast, but I still saw my life flash before my eyes.

I just knew I was going to die on the back of a fire truck that night.

The heat was so intense I could feel my ears, eyes and lips burning even though I was in full gear, it hurt so bad.

The only thing I could do was turn my nozzle on fog and lay down for cover in the man well of the fire truck.  We finally were able to start to back out and get away. We got out of the way of the danger and came to a stop only to realize the smoke coming out from under the hood of our truck.  We quickly popped the hood to see the insulation on fire,  and then realized the other damage to the truck.  Our headlight was melted, plastic on the grill and bumper was melted, paint was scorched and charred, along with the decals, and flashing emergency light bar and spotlight on top of the cab.

After that we decided we couldn't do that again or someone would get killed.  For the rest of the night Carmen, Dacoma, and Amorita Byron fire departments worked the west flank of the fire along county road 230 keeping the fire from crossing 230 to the west.  I remember being on the Dyer ranch that night. We stayed on the fire all night.

To basically sum it up, the first night of the fire was a very dangerous situation that I came close to injury and that definitely scared me.
The fire was just so big, and moved so fast.
It had a roar to it.
Cedar trees would just explode in the blink of an eye.
Ranchers were just cutting fences to try and get cattle out of the path.
The roads were covered in cattle running loose.

I returned to the fire 2 days later with a brush rig and tanker. We met back up with Dacoma and the Helena fire department and checked some hot spots west of Alva, Oklahoma and then proceeded north past the May Ranch onto Hackberry road in Southern Kansas.  We staged for a while south of Aetna, Kansas then moved west down Hackberry road through Ted Turner's Z Bar Ranch into Hardtner, Kansas, then north about 10 miles and back to the northwest onto the Boggs Ranch.  We fought some fire as it pushed to the south and came out of the canyons. We stayed there in that area with units from Dacoma, Helena, Capron, Oklahoma Departments and Barber County Rural Fire Department of Kansas all night.

Many things stood out to me with this fire, such as this fire moved faster than any fire I've ever seen. It was incredible how many volunteer firefighters dropped what they were doing in their lives to respond.  Small town rural American is a great thing, so many people offered us food and water. 

To the question of what to do different in future situations, well for myself, I will have a better escape route in a fire situation just in case things go south again, because no grass fire is worth dying over.  I can guarantee you this, even after such a close call in that situation, if the pager was to go off right now, I would go back out and help on the fire.  I wouldn't blink an eye, I would go in a heartbeat. That's what we do in rural American, we work together and help each other, you never know when you might need their help someday.

These are all photos I took, some of my photos are floating around Facebook and people are saying they were taken other places, but they aren't true. They are mine. I made the front page of the Enid, Oklahoma newspaper with one photo, some photos and videos made Oklahoma City Fox 25 news and one of my pictures will be in the High Plains Journal.

There were hundreds of volunteers like Dylan who answered the call that week.  I am very thankful that he and his crew made it out alive that first day and that we have guys like him across our great country that help protect us all.  Dylan certainly has a great eye for catching the moments of this monstrous fire.  

Kansas Farm Bureau has set up a website for donations and a list of supplies available called KFB Fire Relief.

Fire Chief, Kevin Irwin's wife sent me this information about a T-Shirt Fundraiser for the local departments. We are selling T-shirts for $20 and right now, all $20 is going to a fund to be shared between ALL fire departments in Kansas and Oklahoma that helped fight this blaze. 

We have had t shirts donated from one of our suppliers up to a certain amount and then a discounted price after we reach that amount. We are donating our time and service to print these shirts. For every T-shirt sold $20 goes into this fund. Please help us help those that ensure our safety. The link to purchase is: mkt.com/andersoncreekwildfire  or you can pick up tomorrow at Small Town Tees in Kiowa and Daisy Village in Alva.

The Fire the National Media Won't Tell You About

There has been a fire raging in Kansas and Oklahoma for days and you probably haven't seen anything about it on the news.  It is the largest wildfire to ever burn in Kansas.

The last 6 days have been long and tiring for the people and livestock living in Woods County, OK, Barber and Comanche Counties in Kansas.  A wildfire started along Highway 64 in Oklahoma.  Maybe it was from a cigarette tossed out the window or a brake that threw sparks on a big rig.  It really doesn't matter how it started at this point.  What happened in those 3 counties?  367,620 acres burned pushed by winds that reached 57 miles per hour!  The humidity was extremely low and the soil moisture was very dry.  That is the equivalent of 367,000+ football fields burned black.

Here is what we do know about the Anderson Creek Fire:

1.  Fences were damaged.  Posts were burned to the ground.
2. Cows were killed although not as many as originally thought.  The cows took refuge in and around ponds and saved their own lives.
3. Livestock are suffering from smoke inhalation and burns.
4. Homes were lost.  My husband has friends who had the fire go by one side of the house and they thought they were saved only to have the wind switch directions and come back at the house and burn it to the ground.
5. Volunteer fire fighters are exhausted and are back at work at their regular jobs.  Yes, I said regular jobs.  Fire Departments in rural America are largely staffed by volunteers who leave their paying jobs to protect us often getting less than $50 per day in payment.
6. Dreams for an easy Spring season are long gone. Days are going to be filled with rebuilding fences and helping neighbors.

Greg Akagi from WIBW shared this thought from a rancher in the area.

The people who live in the counties are busy!  

At this point very few have had time to think about what has happened and could probably learn quite a bit from the ranchers that lived through Winter Storm Atlas.

• Right now, they are searching for cattle.  They are most likely alive, but are mixed with other ranches cattle thanks to fences that were damaged, gates that were opened to let fire fighters in and the cows out, and fences that were cut to let fire trucks in to attempt to stop the fires.
• They are fixing fences to keep their cattle somewhere safe.  No, they aren't waiting for the government to give them help to rebuild.  They don't have time to wait on the speed of the government.
• They are helping neighbors.  
• They are certainly keeping a watchful eye to the sky looking for a small whisp of smoke that could mean huge trouble with a gust of wind.

 There is never a great time for a wildfire, 

But a March/April fire is just when the grass is starting to grow and when most farmers plan to burn anyway.  This fire was not ideal conditions.  It was burning hotter than ranchers would like to see, but the native grasses are resilient.  They survived wildfires long before man came along to extinguish them.  Ranchers can use fire as a means to control many trees and bushes that try to over take grassland.  We also know, just as the Native Americans did, that fire gives us better more nutritious grass that is good for both cattle, buffalo and wildlife alike.

Cedar Trees on our farm during a controlled burn.

As this video states, it burned A LOT of cedar trees.  These trees are very invasive and choke out grass under them.   Eastern Red Cedar Trees also send sparks flying into the air when they burn which was probably a big part of how the fire spread with the help of the fire.  Cedar trees also use lots of water.  I saw a report saying that a rancher saw water running from a spring in the burned area that had not been running water before.  With the trees gone, there will be more water for livestock and wildlife and will improve the habitat for the Lesser Prairie Chicken and Bobwhite Quail populations that have been dwindling in recent years. 

Want to see more sights of the fire?  KWCH TV has some great coverage!  I especially liked this video showing the sights and sounds of the fire.

We have been through a few wildfires in dry windy conditions, but nothing the size of this one.  Neighbors have always rushed to help us fight the fire and see if we needed anything afterward.  Watching cows be confused and not know where to take them or how to get them to understand you are trying to help is heart wrenching. Having to decide to save yourself and your crew you are responsible for and leaving animals to fend for themselves is awful.

Hay was needed to feed cows.  

Unlike fires we have seen before, entire ranches were burned including their hay stacks.  One day after a call was sent out that hay was needed, the Kansas Livestock Association said their was more hay than the local Coop yards could hold and they would let us know when/if more was needed.  I say "if", because the fire area got snow Easter morning providing valuable moisture to the grass to help it grow quickly.

What can you do?  

Both Kansas and Oklahoma have set up disaster relief funds to help the ranchers rebuild.
Pray for continued rain in the area.  There are showing signs of drought once again.

Kansas Farm Bureau got this from a rancher in a 1 minute conversation on Friday.

Share this with your friends.  Let them see how hard it is to grow food for their table.
Do you a story of someone in the area?  Please share it!

UPDATE:
I have added a post from a Volunteer Firefighter who was called out the first day of the fire and he shares what he saw and heard. Volunteers Made us #KSProud is the story of one of the volunteers who went out later in the week to relieve guys that had been fighting for days.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Prairie Fires

It is April and in Kansas on the prairies that means that this grass is starting to green up and...

Ranchers are lighting it up.

My Father-in-law is usually my partner in lighting fires and putting them out. 

This is not something we take lightly.  We go fully prepared to take care of things if the wind or other factors change the fire plan.

Every well planned fire has a "Fire Boss" which is usually The Farmer on our place.

 

He has lots of jobs:

• Makes sure the neighbors are notified that we will be burning around them.
• Makes sure the local fire department has been notified, so they don't come to try put it out.
• Checks the hourly weather forecast for predicted wind direction changes.
• Makes sure all the equipment is ready to work when needed.
• He organizes the crew and tells us where to start, which direction we are going, where we are going to meet at. 

 

Why Do Ranchers Burn?

There are lots of brushy plants and weeds that can be controlled with fire.  The evergreen trees are called Eastern Red Cedar.  In the above picture, you can see lots of trees.  They are an invasive species and overtake many pastures.  They can be killed with herbicide or by cutting them down, but the most cost effective way is to burn them. 

They make a lot of black smoke when they burn.  The needles have a high oil content and once they start to burn, the tree is quickly engulfed in flames.

There are other "weeds" that fire controls for us and it gives the cattle lush green grass to eat without all the dead grass.

Even though things are greening up, these fires can get very hot and very big very quickly.

We spend most of the burn time setting what is called a back fire or back burn.  Usually, I spread the fire along and my father in law follows me to put out the side of the fire that we want stopped.  This fire is set so the fire is moving into the wind, so it moves very slowly.

When the "head fire" arrives, it has nothing to burn and no where to go.

Did you know that dried cow patties can smolder and burn for hours.  These wonderful bits of fertilizer cause us more trouble each year than anything else when they smolder close to the edge of what has not burned.

After a fire, things are very black, very smoky and very hazy.

I seem to spend quite a bit of time enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  We wait a lot on the fire boss while he is setting fire after we set the back fire.  Or yesterday, I sat and watched a tree that was on fire at the edge of the burned area while the guys continued on.  Lots of waiting and it is all in the name of safety.

Here is a picture where we stopped the fire and you can see the difference between what was burned and not burned.

This cedar tree won't cause the neighbor any more trouble.  It is pretty awesome to see a 15 foot tree killed with the strike of a match.

We try to burn our pastures when the trees are a little smaller.  It is easier to catch the entire tree on fire and kill it.

Less than a week later we will start to see the green grass coming back and peaking through the black ashes.

The Native Americans that used to live here, used fire as a way to get green grass and attract the buffalo herds.  Natural lightning strikes caused fires long before they used fire and the herds naturally go to where the greener grass is located.

I just love to watch a pasture green up after the fire has swept across it and removed the dead trees, living cedar trees and dead grass.  It is a sign of renewed hope, a new year and better things to come.

Check out this video Derek Klingenberg captured when burning in the Flint Hills with a Firenado.  It really shows how quickly things can change.

-A Kansas Farm Mom