Looked at the Wawona RAWS and saw the Washburn Fire is basically burning under good RX conditions. The peak Probability of Ignition never gets over 70%.
I know things are dry, and this is impossible in our current political climate, but when it comes down to it, the fire is basically backing and flanking across the landscape like it would if we were stripping it out. And we wouldn’t have to be taking on the gnarly slopes of the S. Fk. Merced at this time of year if we were doing it on purpose.
Can you imagine how much easier/safer it would be to burn this ground at this time of year if you had a fraction of the millions we have spent chasing this thing to put into prep, snagging, and line construction. And if you had unlimited access to Type I helicopters while you were doing the job?
And what about the public relations? Instead of CNN showing video of sprinklers set up to ‘protect’ fire-adapted giant trees, they could be showing crews coaxing a low-intensity fire thru the stand, talking about the bold action we are taking to save the forests.
P.S. Probably not when headed into a heatwave, in a historic drought, though who knows if it’ll ever end…
I am not asking for anyone to list all the reasons this shouldn’t/can’t happen. Just writing science fiction here and asking people to imagine the alternative space we need to live in if we are going to achieve the magic annual acreage numbers people in Sacramento are telling the public we are going to burn in the very near future.
