Panhandle Fires

[Calrob]

Have you considered planting winter wheat in between?

Common sense solutions. I like it!

[60 Deluxe]

When the 2011 Wildcat wildfire was barreling down on us, I used what little time that I had available to remove the fuel between our house and the approaching fire. I had a barn about fifteen feet from a brushed in fence line, so I started on getting juniper out of that fence. I busted my hiney getting that job done, then I got on the tractor with a blade and starting scraping away the vegetation around the house probably 200 feet to the south and southwest, and fifty feet to the east. The neighbor ran his dozer around his pasture twice so that gave me about twenty feet to the west. It worked as the house didn't burn even though we lost 75-80% of our vegetation on the place and about a mile of fence. I've kept it where I can do a quick backburn of dry grass in yard and scrape down to bare dirt quickly if and when it happens again. It is only common sense to be wildfire aware and to prepare your property before it happens. Even though there was a ten mile wide wall of fire heading in our direction, I only had to take care of a couple hundred feet to save the house.

[mjhaverkamp]

Come on ok rattler, your in over your head, go catch some snakes

[okrattler]

Insurance farmers more than likely

Probably, which in that case there's no harm done in doing it that way. If a fire comes in and burns a crop up they have to do the same thing. So in a roundabout way it's the same result regardless of which way it goes. Only there's lives at stake if one catches on fire vs. the other.

Aside from that other than Winter wheat what is standing right now? It's all corn stalks, milo stalks and stubble. It may be something else in a few months so what good is it right now other than getting set on fire? The wind picks up as soon as it starts getting warm outside. Does every year and fires happen every single year around here. It's nothing new. That dry tender that's not doing anyone any good should be dirt clods instead of fire tender. During the peak of wildfire season it really doesn't benefit anybody to have stuff out in a field that ain't producing food or revenue for the farmers. Those corn stalks don't look that good sticking up out there. That irrigation sprinkler not running ain't helping nothin. It's just there existing. Waiting to get burned down.

[okrattler]

Overall this argument is pretty far out there, and wildly inaccurate and unrealistic, but one thing that keeps coming up is cost and your assumption that farmers should shoulder the cost because “you can’t put a price on someone’s life”

Let’s flip the script - should residents near farms front farmers money to plant these winter crops? If they can’t put a price on life then the residents should be very willing to front the money because it’s for the greater good of people, right?

Yeah or as the people that don't have a choice in who farms the neighboring properties around the towns we live in, if our property is damaged do to their negligence they should be paying for the damage done or spending prison time for loss of life. While we're playing make believe lets pretend that was a thing. Y'all would find a way to plant something that's less flammable year after year. Wouldn't ya? You bet you would. Wouldn't be such a challenge if you were held responsible.

Or lets say you were taxed more if you were to plant something that's highly flammable within so many acres of a town or dwelling in make believe land. I bet you could figure out what you'd plant there year after year pretty quickly.

[Calrob]

Yeah or as the people that don't have a choice in who farms the neighboring properties around the towns we live in, if our property is damaged do to their negligence they should be paying for the damage done or spending prison time for loss of life. While we're playing make believe lets pretend that was a thing. Y'all would find a way to plant something that's less flammable year after year. Wouldn't ya? You bet you would. Wouldn't be such a challenge if you were held responsible.

You would get paid if it was the farmers negligence. I think you're forgetting God or mother nature play a major part in these fires, not farmers.

[okrattler]

You would get paid if it was the farmers negligence. I think you're forgetting God or mother nature play a major part in these fires, not farmers.

Yeah but mother nature doesn't get along with certain types of plants in certain stages of their life as I'm sure you're aware. Which is where the conversation about crops and things that are a lot harder to set fire to than corn stalks got brought up.

You do have control over what types of plants you make grow out of the ground.

Not to change the subject but I don't think God had much to do with burning up houses and millions of acres of land. I don't know him that well but from what I've heard of him he's a rather pleasant fellow. Don't think I'd put something like that on him.

[Greenheadless]

Should prolly just blame the buffalo hunters for killing off all the buffalo.

[Pedernal]

Anyone have an update on how it’s going out there? News aren’t really reporting much.

[Txhunter3000]

Anyone have an update on how it’s going out there? News aren’t really reporting much.

Probably because the gloom and doom isn't what it once was. I haven't been able to find anything either.

[Lincoln Hawk]

Fellas (and ladies), the only solution is to either crop every acre of native rangeland that is flammable or pave it over. Forests and woodlands, too. This natural disaster dog just won't hunt.

[Mission408]

Any updates? Someone has to have a connection.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Any updates? Someone has to have a connection.

I have no connection but I was watching various news videos with my mother earlier today and one featured a woman who lived near Canadian being interviewed in front of her (totally) burned out house. The reporter asked her if she knew how the fire got started and she replied that a burning tumble weed came blowing by, her house caught and “she barely had time to get out of the house.”

When the reporter asked her what she was going to do, true the the people of West Texas, she said, “Well, I guess I’m going to lace up my shoes and get started!”

[J-5]

How would it cost that much more to move the same winter wheat they were going to plant anyway to the outskirts of the community to serve as a fire barrier and plant their corn where they were going to plant their winter wheat away from town? I'm not suggesting make every field winter wheat. If it's about rotating crops, rotate to something less likely to burn up in nothin flat.

Others have tried to use logic with you and failed as well, so I don’t feel so bad. One last attempt.

The economics of farming and ranching don’t Pay out like you’d think. They don’t do it for free or the fun of it. It’s their business. Like any other business, if you make bad decisions you don’t stay in business long. If it’s not in their business interests to plant, plow, or set aside a particular spot, they don’t do it. Furthermore, it is not their responsibility in the least to provide protection for anyone but themselves.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Others have tried to use logic with you and failed as well, so I don’t feel so bad. One last attempt.

The economics of farming and ranching don’t Pay out like you’d think. They don’t do it for free or the fun of it. It’s their business. Like any other business, if you make bad decisions you don’t stay in business long. If it’s not in their business interests to plant, plow, or set aside a particular spot, they don’t do it. Furthermore, it is not their responsibility in the least to provide protection for anyone but themselves.

I’ll give you this, sir…you are an intrepid soul.