The day after the big burn

The day after the big burn I went out to the pasture to check on the the two burning stumps and whatever else.  I found the two stumps were still smoldering but were now smoldering holes in the ground.

I also checked the stump I stopped from burning yesterday.  I found the smoldering ground had worked it's way back over to the stump and it caught fire again.

I took an axe to the rotting stump and removed all of it.  That put an end to it ever catching fire again.

This 'problem' area is under two trees growing right next and into one another.  One of the trees is a long needle pine tree that drops lots of pine needles.  So the area under the trees has a good base of material that can catch fire and smolder.  Once it starts it is hard to put out.  Even though the air temperature was cool, the smoldering material was very hot.

I raked the area in an effort to stop the smoldering.  The below freezing temperature overnight seemed to have no effect. It rained briefly and a few snow flakes fell during the day but under the tree's rain shadow it had no effect.  A stiff wind blew, and while it was a cold wind, the wind kept the smoldering alive.

Finally in the evening, after once again having to check on the smoke and smoldering, I brought two five gallon pails of water and dumped on most of the smoldering.  I didn't have enough water to put all the smoldering out but it was enough to get the majority of it.  When I checked the next morning all the smoldering was finally out.

Photo 1 shows the smoldering area in question after I raked the material away from the tree trees to no avail.
Photo 2 shows the smoldering smoke rising from the material.