Duff Fire

[Justin]

How does it feel to have adopted an area?

Well to be honest, speaking for both my father and myself here...it is an area that I (we) visit often, and there have been many times when action was required to take care of the negligence of others.
Not just in this case or in this area, but in other areas of the Adirondacks as well.

I know that there are many of us here who also do their share of 'looking out for the area they love',
So I guess it feels pretty good to be a part of that community that helps keep the Adirondacks clean & natural.

Really though, I'm just very glad that I stumbled upon that duff fire when I did.
If I hadn't decided to take another hike and go for a quick walk around the pond and take some photos of the sunset, I hate to think of what may have happened to that entire hillside (or worse) which was nothing more than a hillside filled with thickets of dead spruce & balsam & dry pine needles.
I'd like to believe that anyone would have done the same thing if they were in my (our) shoes that day.

Thanks for the replies.

[TBPDPTI]

How does it feel to have adopted an area?

[Vermont Scott]

If anything, it looks like there is more vegetation where the fire was. Still can't believe you were there to stop it!

[Justin]

I was in this area again recently and stopped in to take another look...

Other than the now-dead tree and a few small remains of burnt wood, it's pretty hard to tell that there was a severe duff fire here about 21 months ago.

Then and now:

[DSettahr]

I applaud both Justin and Paddlewheel for their heroic efforts of putting this duff fire out, as the effects could of been devastating.
It was a campfire, burning the forest duff, which caught the Shoulder of Noonmark/Bear's Den Area back in 1999.

Yeah, but the Forest Rangers got to use dynamite to put that one out. I don't think any of them complained about having to put that one out.

[Skyclimber]

I applaud both Justin and Paddlewheel for their heroic efforts of putting this duff fire out, as the effects could of been devastating.
It was a campfire, burning the forest duff, which caught the Shoulder of Noonmark/Bear's Den Area back in 1999.

[DSettahr]

It's the same concept, slightly different (but very similar) combustible materials. Duff is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation (branches, leaves, bark, etc) on a forest floor, while peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation in a wetland setting.

Is the "duff fire" the same or similar to a "peat fire"? I know the peat fires can be a problem in some areas, can burn for many days and be a bear to extinguish.

I remember this being an issue while paddling in Algonquin Provincial Park quite a few years ago.

Nice job taking care of the fire!

I'm pretty sure that they are one in the same.....

[bluequill]

Is the "duff fire" the same or similar to a "peat fire"? I know the peat fires can be a problem in some areas, can burn for many days and be a bear to extinguish.

I remember this being an issue while paddling in Algonquin Provincial Park quite a few years ago.

Nice job taking care of the fire!

[Justin]

PW and I were in the area again this weekend and we stopped in to check up on that duff fire. We were very glad to see that it did not spread at all!
It seems like Mother Nature even started to heal herself already, by dropping a fair amount of pine needles over the burnt area since last weekend!
A few more photos:

[Justin]

Geez,I didn't realize it was a full moon last weekend

It looks like Crab Pond in the pics?

....

- I made a mistake earlier...
this is the photo I took just before encountering the duff fire, not the other one. It's similar, but different:

[dundee]

Guys, thanks for putting that fire out. The woods are a better place!

It looks like Crab Pond in the pics?

[Justin]

All I'll say Justin is it's a good thing there's people like You and your Father in the woods.

Good Job

Thanks Buddy!

[Justin]

For those of you who don't already know, I'm Paddlewheel's son.
And just let me tell you, discovering that duff fire was hands down the most terrifying experience I ever had in the Adirondacks!
One minute, I was on top of the world and soaking up the beautiful views across the lake towards the setting sun, taking some photos and thinking to myself, "Man, this is absolutely gorgeous, I'm having the time of my life and there is no place on earth that I'd rather be right now, our bushwhack was awesome, what a great day, blah blah blah". Then I stepped off the trail for a second to catch another shot of the setting sun across the pond....
Then I smelt smoke!
I hadn't even turned all the way around yet, but somehow I knew what I was about to see!
The bliss I was experiencing just seconds before, instantly change to pure panic! "Holy Sh!t"
When I turned around, the entire ground behind me was smoldering!
I freaked out!
My first reaction was to try and stomp out a small section, but I quickly realized that by doing that, it was only going to make things worse, and the ground started to crackle even more, and it seemed like that it was going to ignite into a huge burst of flames at any minute! So, I ran back to camp as fast as I could, and the rest is history!
Man though, It really was a very scary ordeal for a couple hours, and both of us were never really sure if we were going to be able to get ahead of it! The whole hillside is nothing but dry, dead, pine blowdown and deadfall. Thank God there was no breaze to speak of that evening! We had visions of things getting real ugly real quick! Hopefully we got it out all the way!

I'm hoping to be back to that area again this weekend, so I'll be sure to stop in see what's up.

Here's a few other pics from the trip:
The 4th one down is the one I took just seconds before encountering the duff fire.

I like a fire as much as the next person, but I haven't had in in over 20 years and that one was because I was with two other guys who like to have a fire.

Why don't I have one? All my gear smells like smoke. I don't like gathering firewood and I don't have have one because everyone else DOES. I don't need one to keep warm. I don't use one to cook and if it's buggy, I crawl in the tent.

My love of the wilderness goes beyond my love for a campfire.

I can agree with everything you say...it makes sense and I have the same kind of love for the outdoors & the wild places....there's just always been something about a (SAFE) campfire that has been sort of a tradition to me, my son and most of the other folks that I have shared trips in the ADK's with over these many years.