Article Contributed on: 12/7/2006 3:12:03 PM
The two inches of snow on the ground and minimal wind suggested Dec. 7 would be a prime day for burning slash piles in conjunction with Clear Creek County burn permit regulations.
The conditions were ideal, but the slash pile at 263 Barrows Ranch Road was larger than the permitted 8-foot width, 8-foot length and 4-foot height. When Evergreen Fire Rescue Assistant Chief
Jim Pidcock arrived on scene, one third of the 20'x 80'x 6' pile was engulfed in flame.
EFR firefighters responded to the address after the owner,
Mike Ellman, called 911 to report the slash burn "had gotten away" from him. He was unable to control the burn with the garden hose and fire extinguisher and needed "a pumper."
Snow on the ground contained the fire's spread to some extent, but the radiating heat started to scorch surrounding trees, embers were floating west toward the Beaver Brook watershed and smoke was billowing into the overhead power lines, which could have caused arcing.
Six firefighters used water and foam to extinguish the blaze before it could spread in any of those directions.
Fire Marshal
Frank Dearborn also responded and revoked Ellman's burn permit because the fire was not controlled and because it was burning within 35 feet of surrounding trees and directly underneath power lines. Additionally, the permit was for a slash pile at 131 Evergreen Drive, not at 263 Barrows Ranch Road.
Deputy
Joel Buehrle of the Clear Creek Sheriff's Office also responded but did not cite Ellman at Dearborn's request.
Rural fire departments issue permits for open burning to encourage property owners to mitigate wildland fuels in the urban interface: ecosystems where human structures are intermixed with the non-human environment. Wildfires in the urban interface tend to be devastating because they burn structures in addition to vegetation.
Mitigating fuels around our structures is an important strategy for reducing the wildfire threat to our homes, but eliminating those fuels must be done responsibly to prevent a slash pile burn from becoming an uncontrolled wildfire.