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Backpacking and forest fires

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Stewart 
#1 ·
My wife and I left Spokane on Saturday morning with hopes of a fantastic two night trip northeast of Ione. The skies were hazy, but there weren't any fires nearby. By lunch time on Sunday, the woods smelled like a campfire and smoke was visibly moving between the trees. Not billowing or anything like that, but still noticeable. There were a few times that a helicopter went over and one time I saw it, and it didn't have a bucket. We also heard a plane or two, but it sounded small. We talked it over and decided to leave. I knew if we stayed that I wouldn't get to sleep at night. When we got back to the trailhead there was a Forest Service fire truck of some sort, and a BLM fire truck, and the three other vehicles that had been there were gone. Both of those vehicles were empty and no one was around to ask what was happening around us. The fire ended up being about twenty miles to the southwest of us.

How do you know when to leave?

What can you do if you're trapped? I was thinking of getting in the biggest pool of water I could and soaking a sleeping bag and use that for cover. The water we were close to on the way out wasn't much, but there were a few pools about as big as a bath tub.
Wheel Tire Car Plant Vehicle
 
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#2 ·
I would think if you smell it and see smoke, it would be time to go. A buddy and I wound up in one up near mt good last year while driving. Seen smoke ahead but were too far into the trip to backtrack, and it looked far enough away to not worry. We came around a corner and see a blm tanker truck in the ditch wrecked with the fire about a hundred yards away. Hightailed it the rest of the way out just fine.
 
#4 ·
Holy crap! There was a fire right where we were. That's scary. It didn't seem like fire trucks would have been 20 miles from pavement without a reason. Now I know they had a reason.
 
#5 ·
Just leave ASAP. Given this years fire conditions you don't want to be anywhere close to a fire. You never know when the thing will blow up.

If the fire trucks saw your parked vehicle. Leave a note that you left and your route so they don't waste time and energy looking for you. Give a brief description of your truck...color, model, etc.

Here is a video. At minute 2:30 and 9:15 the CalFire guy talks about being in a pond. Worth it to listen to the stories of the folks that have gone through a deployment. You NEVER want to go through one of these things.

 
#6 ·
I'm sure the fire fighters saw our truck. I didn't think to leave a note, but I did change our departure date on the trip log at the trailhead.

Honestly, I thought we were being overly cautious by leaving once we heard about the Ione fire. After I looked at the link in your first post, I about shit my pants. The fire couldn't have been more than a couple miles from where we were. We really couldn't see the forest for the trees, so there would have been almost no way to know how close it was until it was about on top of us.

For me, the back country trips will have to wait until fire season is behind us. I appreciate your input.
 
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