These pictures were taken today all except the last one. The first picture is on 414 after the narrow where the fire started on Saturday afternoon. Right now they are thinking a cigarette tossed from a car started the fire.The fire ran up the canyon ridge towards West Rim Road and Mine Hole. By 11 pm it was running on the ridge for several miles. The firefighters pulled off the mountain during the night. In the morning the wind picked up in a South/Southeasterly direction which directed it up Cedar Run Creek. It jumped Mine Hole Road
were they had planned on stopping it and it began
eating up the woods towards Fahneystock.The plan then changed to stopping it at Fahneystock. When I went to check it Sunday morning at 8:35 I saw nothing near Fahneystock, like I did this morning. So Sunday afternoon I was more confident it wouldn't make it to Leetonia. I am glad I didn't know it got as far as it did. If it would have made it past Fahneystock, it would have been clear sailing to Leetonia.
The second and third pictures show the side of Fahneystock, burnt to the road for at least a mile
up Fahneystock road. The third picture is a camp
I just finished remodeling last year owned by Michelle Foray. You can still see my sign on the side of the road that the camp is on. As much as I like repeat business I am glad I didn't get any this way.The fire stopped at the spinning wheel area of Fahneystock and the next burned area I saw was at the end of Spinning Wheel Trail on West Rim going towards Mine Hole. Driving from West Rim down Mine Hole is a mystery from the road you don't see any thing burnt close to the road on either side, but on the side towards fahneystock you can see a burn area.This is where the fire
jumped and it must have jumped high.In fact there it jumped so high there were accusations that the fire was set and this was a new fire. I don't think I believe that. I think the wind was capable of throwing a spark far enough to make it look that way. All of the camps along the first part of West Rim, Mine Hole, and Fahneystock were evacuated if anyone was there.
Fortunately none were lost. I truly believe the rain saved us. I don't think they could have held it from jumping again without a little assist from Mother Nature.
The last picture is a view from Cushman View showing the smoke(none of that is fog) from the fire on Sunday. It got a little tough on breathing until the rain came. There isn't an official acreage count yet, but one of the DNR people told me at least 4000 acres were burnt. Their explanation for the bad communication. It covered different forest districts and only the Williamsport office had accurate information. I called Wellsboro and they didn't know anything and what they did know was wrong. Yet, I was informed that I should call them for any information and if I was in danger someone would come to the camp and knock on my door. They didn't say if that would be before or after the cabin burns. Sorry, but I am a little cynical and angry about there communication abilities. Nothing on the radio, nothing with the State Police a big nothing. So Matt Baker called me and I am writing this up for him to help facilitate some better system. I don't want to be here for a knock on my door that comes too late. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out .
1 comment:
Fire, snow & flatlanders....
I was in the mountains of Leetiona this weekend and when I got home, I checked your blog to see if there were any updates regarding the fire. I have spoken to others about your blog, and some have expressed their outrage about your comments. I had generally blown those comments off, but after reading the blog comments about the fire, I feel compelled to speak out. Bear in mind that I was in the mountains this weekend, as the fire burned.
You make mention that "The ability of the State to get information to us and volunteers is paramount to a disaster waiting to happen. We can't get local television, nothing is on the radio, the firefighters and the Forest Rangers know nothing and this places much of us and our property in danger." Here are a few key points.
1. The State had people come in from all over to fight the fire. The people stationed at the Mine Hole bridge were from the Pittsburgh area (I stopped to talk to them). So volunteers were contacted and they mobilized quickly. You may want to thank these people instead of ridiculing them.
2. In conversation with the firefighters at Mine Hole, I had asked them about the fire, its size, and it's trajectory. The gentlemen there told me that they would be going up the creek towards Leetonia to inform people there about the fire, if they were in any harm. That hadn't been done at that point......guess why....they were busy fighting and trying to contain a fire. I was very confident with the job these guys were doing. When it was time to go knocking on doors, they would have done so.
3. You must remember where you live...you live in the woods just outside of Leetonia. I know exactly where your cabin is; I've been going to that area since I was a kid. You chose to live in a very remote area of Pennsylvania. News and information is not readily available. It is your job to find/seek out the news and take care of yourself. If you want a news station, a town hall, a chief of police, and/or fire chief to inform you of fires, danger, etc., there is a lot of acreage for sale near Coudersport. There you could drive and complain right to the Mayor himself. But since you choose to live in remote Leetonia, you should not complain about communication regarding incidents such as the fire. It is your job to take care of yourself. What is next? Call boxes on every tree along Cedar Mountain Road, in case of emergency???
4. Forest rangers up there do a good job. I see DCNR driving around up there every weekend. They are the only ones up there driving around and watching after people. They deserve no ridicule. Bear in mind that they are the ones who got all the volunteers up to the mountains. Otherwise, many cabins would have been turned to ash.
And that is all I really have to say about the fire. Volunteers came in and did their best. Your complaints about this are really troubling. You should really be thankful, instead of complaining. Those guys from Pittsburgh were volunteers and didn't get paid to be there. And that goes for all of the other volunteers that showed up too. You should really contact DCNR in Wellsboro, find out who volunteered, and send them all a "thank you" instead of bitching.
And now for the "snow". Your comments were as follows, regarding plowing of the roads. “For those of you this inconveniences I am sorry, but I could no longer afford the luxury of not working in the winter months. If anyone would like the roads not to be plowed and would like to pay me a salary for not working. I would be more than happy to return them to their natural state."
First of all, this comment is a slap in the face to all those who have snowmobiled in the forest for years and years. I understand that you have to work, but you chose to live in this remote area. Who are you to make those people who have snowmobiled up there for so many years change, just because you decide to move into town? These people had been enjoying the snowmobiling those routes for years, and who are you to keep them from that tradition? In all the years that Glen and Mick had lived up there, did they ever have the road plowed? If you can't get around up there, then maybe you really don't belong up there in the winter. Having the road plowed was a disrespectful act to all those who snowmobile up there. What a slap in the face, that hundreds of people couldn’t use that road in the winter because someone from out of town moved up and can't/won’t adapt to the winter conditions. And to say, “if anyone would like to pay me a salary for not working” is ridiculous and confrontational.
And finally for the “Flatlanders”. In the Flatlanders versus Ridge Runners blog, someone sent you a photo and asked you to guess which shoes were owned by the “Flatlanders”. While it may have been funny, I was thinking about it. Who truly is the Flatlander up in the hills of Leetonia? It seems to me that the true Flatlanders are those who cannot truly take care of themselves in that wild terrain. In the sincerest definition, it is the Flatlander that would be writing blogs and complaining about communication problems in the mountains, whereas a true mountain person lives in the mountains to get away from the city life, e-mails, fax machines, computers, etc., and accepts the responsibility of taking care of themselves. True mountain people adapt to their wild surroundings. They would not inconvenience others, just to make their lives easier.
Only a Flatlander would move into Leetonia, have the road plowed and disrupt and disrespect snobmobilers, just because they can’t accept the responsibility of getting themselves around in the snow, a responsibility that was accepted when moving into that remote area. Only a Flatlander would complain about the volunteer firemen donating their time to help fight a fire in the Flatlander’s backyard. Are you truly “Mountain Girl”? Perhaps your “handle” should be “Flatlander Resident in Leetonia”. Only Flatlanders would show this kind of disrespect to the land and the generations of people who use, visit, work and volunteer in the forests of northern Pennsylvania.
Signing out……..Mountain Man Mike
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