Beauty comes with fire in the prairie

Burn boss Shane Tripp went over, pointed on my head and said factually: “Her hat is back.”

Every little thing counts in a prescribed combustion.

My father's ash, a long -term stone house, has to fly everywhere in hard embarrassment.

On Monday I am with a prescribed combustion of a controlled fire, in this case the health of an ecosystem maintains-in this case on the Siebrop Prairie Nature Preserve.

It is part of the Indian border machines, prairing residues in Markham in south Cook County.

It is work and fatally serious, but not deny, it is also fun. Fire is as original as possible.

The nature reserve explains the IBP prairie “The biggest remaining example of high-quality grassland in Illinois and one of the best in the middle west” and “a kind of biological” ark “for the future-living flotilla of hope for the residents of Illinois' once huge prairy community.

Parts of IBP are a national natural mark.

The meeting before burning was serious. People didn't scroll their phones.

Tripp, who made his Masters thesis [at SUNY] With regard to the role that fire on the Hirsch tick populations, I said: “I only spent the time, I saw the ecological advantages, I was really inspired by the advantages of the fire. The fire just grew into my main passion again and again. “

As Burn Boss, Tripp built a detailed plan that previously strengthened with the bosses Eric Bugvilionis, the IBP Senior Land Steward and Moira Staudacher, an IBP -Land -Steward.

In the plan it was detailed, who drove, what vehicles, where the tender (water for spray devices) was parked, the Kawasaki UTV with what crew, the position of the escape routes and the security zones in which fire fractions were, protocol on handwritten, procedure if “the fire gets out of the field”, who checks, checked, checked, checked and notices.

Tripp was precisely that the head fire would be about 20 feet during death, the back on 4 feet.

Everyone was reminded of paying attention to the firing fires outside the box. If you couldn't put them out, you should cycle for help.

Bugvilionis had volunteers Anja Christensen and Fabiola Padron. I went with Stauders Crew, volunteer Kaitlin Soto and Jaron Cook, the conservation information manager from Illinois TNC.

Soto, an experienced volunteer, led me through the preparation and moved into the right-sized nomex yellow fire, safety glasses, meter helmet, merchant gloves and the hand radio. I wore leather boots and was dressed for temperatures near 70.

In the field we grouped ourselves as a trip, then a Staudacher, a test fire. Bugvilionis and other goods are ready to react when the test became rogue.

When the test fire met the expectations, Staudacher built it a back burning (a blackened area as a break) before its crew burned the northwest corner of the combustion area before the head fire was set.

At the beginning it was 64 degrees, 32 percent humidity with West Southwest winds. The mixed height (how high smoke can rise) was 3,000 feet, which is high (a good thing).

The surprise came from three Sedge from Sandhill Cranes, about 200, which circle over them for about an hour. When we went in our area, Staudacher referred to a ropper snake master, a local plant that looks like a medieval weapon.

Methodically, the two crews backed off to create blackened edges for the headfire. Staudacher has made most of our ignition. Cooking usually drove the UTV and sprayed an edge line. Soto usually edited the rattles or the damage (a long tool with a wide spot with which small fire were knocked out outside the edge).

When the head fires were lit, it was switched on. Tripp said that the dominant fuel was indiscerned.

“Tallgrass burns hot and quickly, about as scary as possible if you get going, but it cools down quickly,” he said. “We call it striking fuel.”

The headfire blazed like a lightning fire over the prairie [contained] And distribute amazing heat for half a minute or something.

When the fire was held, they left the extreme southwest corner a little so that the remaining living beings had set an escape route in front of the last head fire.

While we were waiting, someone asked if he had ever carried out a psychological study of those who have burns.

“The original feeling of fire is important to me,” said Tripp. “You brighten the headfire and see the huge cloud of smoke and watch how it rolls. They either catch the fire brigade error or they never burn again. “

When shining, the last head left the remaining spot in a few minutes.

It was time.

Mop-up time mainly checks for hotspots.

The debriefing was as serious as the meeting before the fire. Things had run close to the plan, smoke did not go through school or kedzie.

“It is an exciting experience and you will go back later in summer and see what a nice experience it is,” said Tripp. “You get the soothing beauty afterwards.”