Even with the struggle to keep the fire going, once the fire got near a tree the tree caught on fire. Earlier I had raked the grass from around the tree but sap had run down one side of the tree and even though the fire barely reached the tree the sap easily and quickly caught fire and began a run up the tree bark where the sap leaked out.
The fire was about five to six feet high by the time I noticed the tree was on fire and rising rapidly. I quickly ran over. Using my rake to put out the fire was useless as the sap just spread and more went into flame. I quickly grabbed the dirt I had raked earlier and tossed it on the fire. The dirt stuck to the sap and put the fire out where it landed. I tossed and tossed dirt and quickly had the fire out.
*whew!*
Here is the tree afterward.
I also burned a fire break along all of the west side of the south pasture and half of the middle pasture. The south pasture was important because of the low SW section by the river with brushy trees and tall dead grass. There is no way I want a fire down there. I still have the memory of years ago when the fire I had going in the south pasture all of a sudden took a run and made a break for this low area. After much effort I was able to stop the fire. Ever since I have been super cautious when burning in the south pasture. So it was a priority to burn a firebreak here.
While the middle and north pastures didn't get much of the south breeze late Monday afternoon, and the fires I had there kept dieing out, the south pasture was eager to burn. I carefully and slowly burnt a firebreak. I had to constantly watch the short fire line as the fire wanted to go the the low area.
While burning here two dogs - a pit bull and a terrier - came up out of the low area. That was a surprise as no houses are in this area and the river is also an impediment to easy animal crossing. The dogs were in a playful mood with one another, and other than stopping a few times briefly to look at me, they ran around playing with one another. I did keep one eye on the pit bull the times he was behind me. Eventually the fire burned to their play area and they had to run around burnt black grass. After a short time doing that (I imagine the burnt area was warm/hot to the touch) the dogs disappeared back into the low area and were gone.
The fire break in the south pasture was a short section of north/south, then a short section of east/west then a long section of north/south. I started along the east/west and once that fire break was created I burned the long north/south. My plan to to burn the short north/south section last. When I returned to the short north/south section after finishing the long north/south section I found a pine tree on fire. Yikes! Not again!
A small part of the fire had burnt south against the wind then turned west and went through the area not yet burnt until it reached this tree with sap leaking out. Unlike the previous tree that caught fire this tree had lower live and dead branches that made putting out the fire even harder as the fire was about eight feet up and getting into the branches. As I hadn't raked any grass or dirt from around the tree I had to do extra raking to get some dirt. Again the dirt stuck and put the fire out.
*whew, again!*
Without a video it is hard to give the feel on how fast the fire is burning and going up the tree and how the adrenaline is going. The trees are very tall and once the fire gets higher than I can reach all is lost and the tree will turn into a multiple story roman candle.
Too much excitement!
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