Yesterday afternoon I drove the surprisingly short distance up to the site of the Goring fire from a few days ago. Not a lot to see except several miles of scorched earth. The difference between this sort of fire and what’s currently tearing the ecoptopia of California apart? Here in Utah, this is essentially the desert. All there is to burn are dried weeds and scrub, probably amounting to a few ounces of fuel per square yard. But the Ecological Success Story fires in California seem to be burning down more heavily forested areas… potentially hundreds of pounds of fuel per square yard. The fire here burn quick and burn *out* quick. The scorched land you see here will be back to normal next year. Apart from any structures that may have burned, this was not far off from simply mowing the lawn with fire.
Of course, the air quality was still wretched for a few days.
This photo was from a few miles away, showing what the landscape looks like, unburned. Not exactly Mirkwood.
