Ashdown forest fires today

[Darryl of Sussex]

This bothers me a great deal. The wildlife habitats being ruined will return but it’s still unpleasant to see this.

On a more personal note, as someone who enjoys faffing about in woodland and displaying my extreme picnicking skills in the wilderness and steppes of East Sussex (Ashdown Forest), such disastrous events will make it even more difficult to boil a kettle on a Trangia, without causing outrage at the potential devastation that inhabits the minds of catastrophisers and climatic soothsayers. Are my Bushwrangling skills going to be reduced to carrying only a flask, tupperware box and a nice checked blanket?

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17460477.ashdown-wildfire-services-battle-forest-flames-in-sussex/

 

[lou1661]

Well, i can see fire bans becoming more and more likely within the UK, and to be fair , I cant argue with it.

 

[MrEd]

God the argus is rubbish on a mobile device.

Still, could have just as easily been caused by a carelessly discarded glass bottle, or a cigarette end so I wouldnt rush to change your habits to soon tbh

 

[lou1661]

God the argus is rubbish on a mobile device.

Still, could have just as easily been caused by a carelessly discarded glass bottle, or a cigarette end so I wouldnt rush to change your habits to soon tbh

Irrespective of the cause we should as custodians of the countryside be aware of the potential problems that can occur from our actions, many small "camp" fires can be lit by anyone with no problems. One causes an issue and it gets into the press

 

[Robson Valley]

I hope you will be surprised at the resiliency of the landscape. Seral stages of succession.
The fire mineralizes a great deal of nutrients now suddenly added to the soil.
"Green-up" and "Regen(eration)" as we call it, is a time of nearly explosive vegetative recovery.
That in turn is most attractive to all sorts of wild life from the surrounding districts.

Visit more often and regulary to watch the unfolding of renewed growth.
This is an educational experience that does not get repeated too often.

Our wildfires are on a different scale, averaging 70-100 years apart. They are easy to see from the ISS.
Huge expanses of forest are burnt, creating their own weather and running at 60 mph or faster.
"Campfire bans" are summertime commonplace events of weeks or months duration.
Do something else, you might get trapped by overnight new fire.

 

[Van-Wild]

Are my Bushwrangling skills going to be reduced to carrying only a flask, tupperware box and a nice checked blanket?

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17460477.ashdown-wildfire-services-battle-forest-flames-in-sussex/

I doubt your skills will be reduced at all. Carry on as before old chap. Twas not you who caused the fire as no doubt, you are of a mind to guard against such things. In any case, a Trangia is very discreet so nobody would notice anyway. Crack on I say, crack on!

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[Darryl of Sussex]

God the argus is rubbish on a mobile device.

Still, could have just as easily been caused by a carelessly discarded glass bottle, or a cigarette end so I wouldnt rush to change your habits to soon tbh

I think your mobile device has little bearing on how rubbish the Argus is

 

[Darryl of Sussex]

Irrespective of the cause we should as custodians of the countryside be aware of the potential problems that can occur from our actions, many small "camp" fires can be lit by anyone with no problems. One causes an issue and it gets into the press

Agreed although rules cater for the lowest common denominator, in this case it’s fire. I can imagine how a conversation might go with a uniformed person who had taken it upon themselves to prevent their imagined catastrophe.

 

[Nice65]

God the argus is rubbish on a mobile device.

Still, could have just as easily been caused by a carelessly discarded glass bottle, or a cigarette end so I wouldnt rush to change your habits to soon tbh

Also could have just as easily been started deliberately or by youngsters mucking about and losing control, though the timing does tally with when the sun would be at its most intense.

I just don’t feel it’s been so tinder dry in the woods yet for a bottle lens to start a smoulder that blows into a fire. I dunno, but either way, it’s not good.

 

[MrEd]

Also could have just as easily been started deliberately or by youngsters mucking about and losing control, though the timing does tally with when the sun would be at its most intense.

I just don’t feel it’s been so tinder dry in the woods yet for a bottle lens to start a smoulder that blows into a fire. I dunno, but either way, it’s not good.

I disagree, I don’t live far from ashdown forest and crow borough Common and the dead, brown bracken etc is very dry and crispy as is the leaf drop from the autumn - I think the wind has dried everything out and the winter hasn’t been _that_ wet (compared to last year) so to me it’s perfectly plausible that a bottle or cigarette could have started a fire that then got out of control.

I do agree about the kids etc - Could also have been kids messing around. 2 fires a good distance apart almost at the same time feels weird though - I don’t believe in coincidences!

 

[Nice65]

I disagree, I don’t live far from ashdown forest and crow borough Common and the dead, brown bracken etc is very dry and crispy as is the leaf drop from the autumn - I think the wind has dried everything out and the winter hasn’t been _that_ wet (compared to last year) so to me it’s perfectly plausible that a bottle or cigarette could have started a fire that then got out of control.

I do agree about the kids etc - Could also have been kids messing around. 2 fires a good distance apart almost at the same time feels weird though - I don’t believe in coincidences!

Just after I posted I saw the news about Saddleworth Moor. It must be drier than I imagined.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...calyptic-blaze-breaks-yorkshire-britains/amp/

 

[Fadcode]

Don't be surprised if housing estates suddenly start appearing once the smoke dies down, it's happening everywhere, it's also very surprising how many derelict grade 2 buildings suddenly go up in flames,especially those that have had planning permission turned down.

 

[MrEd]

Don't be surprised if housing estates suddenly start appearing once the smoke dies down, it's happening everywhere, it's also very surprising how many derelict grade 2 buildings suddenly go up in flames,especially those that have had planning permission turned down.

Yes very weird considering they often have no roof, are soaking wet and no electricity - not sure how a fire ‘spontaneously’ starts in that situation.....

 

[Robson Valley]

You light any kind of a wood/twig fire on a day of fire ban and I'll turn you in, faster than a Montreal minute.
"Oh, sir, but it was just an accident." Bullsnort.
Some firefighters actually did that, off-shift! The police made certain that they were not lynched.

Here in the west slope of the Rockies, our summers are the wettest in Canada.
We can expect rain in July 20/31 days, between here and a whistle-stop, Crescent Spur, 50 km west.
This has been an oasis in the record wild fires down south for the past 2 summers.
Wet wood and pi$$ing rain. Two reasons why I helped myself to a new Coleman 533 naptha stove.

 

[Woody girl]

There have been fires in Scotland and Wales too this week. I'm wondering is this due to global warming? ? It does seem strange that these fires all happen at the same time .

 

[Robson Valley]

Not so much warming as "climate change." We see more extremes of heat and cold, wet and dry.

If your forests are sustained typically with a lot of winter precip, there will be a danger in much more drying.
Does your Ashdown district show drought conditions already?

Just yesterday, somebody told me that we have 10C colder this winter than in the past century.
I refuse to take one single winter as evidence of anything other than miserable conditions.
We're looking at another string of -30C nights. -12C to -15C is normal.

Place your bets. As I said, July here is a soaker. More? Less so I have to irrigate my grapes? Same as usual?
I'll lay a dollar on more precip. Juicy as a fresh head of lettuce. Mosquitoes the size of bats.

 

[Van-Wild]

There have been fires in Scotland and Wales too this week. I'm wondering is this due to global warming? ? It does seem strange that these fires all happen at the same time .

Global warming? Unlikely.

Warmest days of the year so far? They come out of their houses and into the hills like spring rabbits out of a Warren. That's a more likely reason!

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[lou1661]

There have been fires in Scotland and Wales too this week. I'm wondering is this due to global warming? ? It does seem strange that these fires all happen at the same time .

Its probably last years growth, It was a good growing year, its had all winter to die off and dry out if its still standing. With the unseasonable warm weather and the breeze that we have been having will make it tinder dry. When the green growth starts coming through it tends to slow the spread.

 

[Robson Valley]

lou1661: I presume you speak of a forest of broad leaf trees and shrubs.

Here, the persistent needles on the conifers add flammable resins to the fire
which can "crown" = flow across the tree tops at 60mph.
Then some fires are burning this winter under the snow in the deep dry layers of dead pine and spruce needles.
Broadleaf patches slow our wild fires.

 

[lou1661]

We get crowning here in the UK, However having lots of broad leaf trees helps, generally the fire loading at this time of year is ground based. The pictures in the first post show lots of Gorse (Ulex europaeus) that is a fantastic fuel source, leaves modified into spines so a huge surface area. Roars away when it gets going.