I Bet It Was!

Smokehouse Blaze 'Best-Smelling Fire We've Seen In A Long Time': Pennsylvania Firefighters

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Firefighters in Pennsylvania have managed to save 200 pounds of Polish sausage from what they're calling the best-smelling fire they've doused in years.

Aerie Report, April 28, 2010

Another Top 10 Day here at the Aerie. 'Twas 35 or so at day break with a breeze out of the north-northwest but the sun shone and the sky was clear. Got up to 67 this afternoon. I'd take days like this for half the year. I confess to enjoying the occasional snowfall or even the rain. It's those damn 90 degree days that do me in--especially if it's humid to boot.

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Terry and I loaded up the Jeep Compass with the bundled magazines and drove over the hill to the recycling center/landfill. It's nice to have made a (small) dent in the crap we have in the basement. Next up is to see what I can discard from the computer software/hardware.

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Back at the Aerie, I took advantage of the nice weather to take a walk around the lawn with two Craftsman friends, Mr. Briggs and Mr. Stratton. They were eager to get out of the garage and joined me after just one pull on their starter cord. We managed to mulch up quite a few of the leaves that had blown in since I raked a few weeks ago and reduced the height of the grass blades to a uniform and even dimension. Sadly, we were unable to remove the flowers form the multitude of dandelions growing rampant upon the greensward. Those bright yellow flowers have been trained to keep their heads down low and, except for a few foolhardy enough to attempt an uprising, remained unscathed. I'd break out the chemical weapons but that might yield too much collateral damage. Even now, those spots where I waged war upon the spiny thistles with Roundup are a blight upon the lawn that will require some remedial attention.

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None of the above was what I wanted to do today. I had wanted to get up on the hill with the ATV and chainsaw to get more firewood in before the turkey season starts on Saturday. I got sidetracked but it had to get done. Since tomorrow looks to be a repeat of today, I'll be spending time prepping the deck with a deck wash to remove mildew and soil so I can apply a coat of sealant/waterproofer/stain.

The first trick will be to pry all the sunflower seed shells from between the deck boards. That'll require some work with a thin blade or a simple nail-on-a-stick to get between the boards. And that can only be done while kneeling down and progressing one laborous foot at a time.

Then I'll be able to spray on the deck wash, let it sit for a spell and then rinse it off. That part sounds easy enough--especially since it can all be done while standing up.

Once it's been cleaned and allowed to dry, it will be time to apply the protecting coat. The weather is supposed to hold through Saturday and even get warmer (highs Saturday in the 80s) with just a 40% chance of thunderstorms developing so I plan on doing the application of sealant/waterproofer/stain after our morning bird walk and lunch unless the weather quacks change the forecast and say it will be more than 50% chance of precipitation.

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It rained a boat load on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, right? Well, we are already in a Red Flag Warning in so far as burning is concerned. The sun and winds have dried things out so much that there's a serious risk of wildfires. When there are no leaves on half the trees, the sun can really dry out the understory. That's when the greatest danger of fires occurs. Sure, lightening does start some in the middle of the summer, especially out in the mountain west, but here in the east, spring is fire season. Another good reason to stay out out of the woods, hold off on burning brush and trash, and pay close attention to your smokes. Like old Smokey says, "Only you can prevent forest fires." And he's right--most of the time, although Mother Nature (or Gaia, if you wish) starts her fair share as well.

Aerie Report, December 17, 2009

No Global Warming here, although it did not get down to the single digits overnight like Terry told me it would. (I think she may have gotten a quick peek at the Wind Chill temperatures and thought they were the actual ones. She's done that before.) No, instead it dropped to 16 degrees as the day broke, climbed to all of 24 degrees as the sun got over the mountain and has dropped again to just 14 degrees at 7:30 PM. The good news is that the wind stopped blowing at sundown. It had been quite brisk all day and made things feel anywhere fro 5 to 10 degrees colder than they actually were. With a sparse cloud cover, the temperatures could get into the single digits tonight. At least that what weather.com and AccuHunch say.

I'm glad I'm not up at the Bolt Hole. It was just below zero before daybreak this morning, climbed way up to 14 degrees this afternoon and has fallen back to minus 2 at 8:30 PM. It will get much, much colder tonight, too.

The cold forced my hand. I built another fire in the fireplace to supplement our propane heat. I'm not worried about running out of gas. On the contrary, we got a fresh delivery Tuesday morning. I'm not sure what the charge will be as the driver didn't leave the bill at the door as he usually does. I do know that it was close to half a tank so it will add up to a sizable chink of change. Then again, our last delivery was back in the middle of October so the money is in the budget from November and December and that should more than cover the cost.

The fire serves at least three purposes: 1) aesthetics--There's nothing like sitting in the living room seeing the flicker of flame dancing across a log or the warm glow of red hot coals in the firebox. 2) warmth--With an air circulating, double walled firebox, the fireplace sucks air from the basement, blows it through the space between the double walls and pushes the warmed air out into the room. The cats especially love that as they curl up on the rug or couch directly in front of the warm air stream. 3) CO2 emissions--Now, I know that CO2 is not a major part of our atmosphere (only something in the realm of 0.039 % of our atmosphere is CO2) and that studies have shown that it increases AFTER the temperature rises not before. Still, it is considered to be a dreaded greenhouse gas. (Maybe because greenhouse growers pump the stuff inside to feed their plants?) And if there is a slight chance it will raise the temperature and prevent the next Ice Age, I'm all for it. Also, there's that whole rebel thing now that the EPA has designated it harmful to human existence. And at my age, lighting a fire's about as rebellious as I can get.

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Not much else going on around here, I'm afraid. The birds and squirrels continue to hit the feeders hard with these low temperatures and thin snow cover. Terry's still got one more PA Christmas Party with one of the EGA groups (tomorrow, I think). The Christmas Bird Count is scheduled for Saturday and Terry and I will be going over to Ive's Run and Crooked Creek again this year. I haven't been over there since just before Thanksgiving so it will be interesting to see what birds might be on Hammond and Tioga Lakes as well as along the Railroad Grade Road that runs along Crooked Creek. It's supposed to be a bit warmer on Saturday, too, up near 30 degrees, so it should be a good day to do some bird watching/counting.

I finished the wooden quilt square today. That makes three I've completed. One's all I'm keeping though. The other two are going out as Christmas presents. Time to start cleaning up the shop and clearing space around the scrollsaw for the next project(s).

Well, that's about all for now. Time to throw another log on the fire, have a beer and then hit the hay. See ya tomorrow.

Still winter

As I've written, I traveled up to the Bolt Hole this past weekend to do a little burning. I also said that the burning of brush was safe because there was still a great deal of snow on the ground.

The broad expanse of the fields behind the garage and barn were still knee deep in snow. Some parts of the lawn were closer to chest deep because they were the recipient of blown/plowed snow. Some areas, like under the pine on the right, were bare because the tree blocks the snow fall and traps some heat.

The snow in the foreground is a mere 18 inches.
That in the bank in front of the garage was close to 48 inches.

In other parts of the front yard, the blower/plow left snow banks in the shade that will be there well into April. But the blower and plow also made it possible to drive the Tundra right up to the cabin's front door and/or over to the garage and barn.

This snow bank, nestled in the shade all day long,
will probably be here until at least Earth Day (April 20).

Thank goodness for snow plows and blowers! Snow/ice between
the garage and barn is a compacted 36-48 inches.

The pile of brush to be burned on Sunday was about 40-50 yards behind the barn. It measured about 10 feet high and 15-20 feet across. Of course, the height measurement is only an approximation as there was--in spots--three feet of hard packed, icy snow around the perimeter of the pile.

Mark sets a torch to the brush pile.

We burned all day and even added brush from freshly felled Scotch pines to the blaze as well as brush from other piles nearby (when we could free it from the ice and snow). By next morning this is what was left:

Much of the pile is gone but the edge is still frozen in the snow.

The small stuff is frozen in the snow. It's quite a step down to the bottom of the pit.
The larger pine branches didn't burn. Too much space between them?

The fire was unable to burn all the brush. Some was embedded in the ice and snow and was still in ice and snow on Monday morning. The fire did leave a hole in the snow, the bottom of which was some 2-3 feet below the edge of the pit. Surprisingly, while the fresh pine needles would roar into flames once they caught, the pine branches over a few inches in diameter resisted something fierce. We had a few "trunks" that were 5-6 inches in diameter and they hardly would burn at all. When learning fire safety they tell you about fuel, heat and air. In the case of this particular pile, I think we had too much air when the smaller branches were turned to ash and the heat was escaping without consuming the wood. A single log standing alone, even if it has glowing embers on it, will not burn for long. But put two of 'em side by side like a couple of young lovers spooning in bed and it's "Baby, come on light my fire!" Obviously, there's more burning that needs to be done. Damn shame we didn't have a pig to roast.

Oh, one more thing. Releasing all that CO2 into the atmosphere didn't do a damn bit of good. The high temperature in the sunshine on Sunday was 34 degrees. Monday morning at 7 AM it was just 6 degrees...on March 23rd.

Bolt Hole clean-up.

I drove up to the Bolt Hole on Saturday morning. A gorgeous day with the sun shinning brightly and nary a cloud in the sky. Of course the temperatures were still pretty low (high of 36 on Saturday and 34 on Sunday) but with the sun shinning it felt a good deal warmer.

The goal was to burn, baby burn! Mark and I had several huge piles of brush accumulated from the clearing of the apples. Honeysuckle, Scotch pine, poplar and even some scraggly cherry trees had been trimmed or felled to open up the old apple orchard during phases 1 and 2. With the snow still up to two feet deep, this is the ideal time to torch this stuff. There's little need to worry about the fire spreading through the grass or into the scrub nearby and all the water you need to control the beast is a shovel full away. So, with permit obtained from the forest rangers (and personally delivered to our door!) and phone call to the local fire department to alert them to our intentions, that is exactly what we did on Sunday.

Sunday morning was overcast with some snow flurries but very little wind. The morning temperature was in the 20s which helped firm up the snow and make walking on the surface possible. The option, sinking knee deep at times or wearing snowshoes, was not conducive to working from 8 AM until after 6 PM. Mark started the fire using an old gallon of gas that had nearly become sludge to soak some rags which were then thrust into the pile of debris. It took some doing because everything was frozen but the brush caught and things went pretty smoothly after that.

Temperatures only ran up into the mid 30s once the sun came out but with the work and the fire to keep us warm, it was a chore NOT to get sweaty.

As the fire burned, we trimmed some of the apple trees that had grown leggy under the Scotch pines and then Mark felled some of the pines as well to increase the air circulation and sunlight reaching the apple trees. That slash got dragged tot he fire and fed the flames.

There was no danger of the fire spreading. As it burned it created a pit a foot or more deep in the frozen soil so that the fire was contained in a circle of snow and ice that was, in spots almost three feet deep. The edges of the brush pile didn't even burn because of being encased in ice.

We wanted to drag some stuff from some smaller brush piles but were foiled by the snow and ice that locked the branches in place. Even using a pair of loppers to free the tips proved futile as there were always more under the branch that were frozen solid.

Things did get a bit more difficult as the sun came out around noon and started to soften the snow. You had to watch were you walked or end up going knee deep when you least expected to. Trust me on this, having one foot suddenly go south on you can really put a strain on your thighs and back.

This morning (Monday) I'll be packing up and heading back to PA. But along the way, I'll make a stop at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. This will be something of a scouting trip as I've never been there before. My birding buddy, Gary, and I will be heading back there on Wednesday if there are any interesting birds about. He's never been there either.

Aerie Lazy Day(s)

The winds kicked up over night and, after a very light dusting of snow, the sky cleared. The result was a very frigid day. The high was only 23 degrees while the low was 12. The winds made it feel a lot colder.

I did go out hunting yesterday but only stayed out for a couple of hours. I walked the southwestern property line, stopping to sit for a half hour or more at a time at several points, but saw no deer and no new deer tracks.

There were very few sounds of gun fire off in the distance. The guys from Lancaster who have a camp down the hill are gone. The guys from New Jersey who have a camp up the hill are also gone--probably back to NJ for Saturday's opening day of firearms season.

I built a fire in the fireplace yesterday when it became obvious that the afternoon temperatures were not going to get above the freezing mark. With the double walled fire box and air circulating fan (it pulls air from the basement, circulates it around the firebox, and then blows it out into the first floor living area) raised the house temperature from around 63 degrees to 70 degrees. The fire was allowed to burn down over night, but when the temperatures today proved to be even colder than yesterday, I built another fire around 2 PM and will be adding some more logs between now (5:30 PM) and around 10 PM.

First Snow of the Season

Today, as I mentioned, we had our first real snowfall of the season here at the Aerie. That's not to say we had snow in huge quantities or even very far down into the valley. But we did have an inch or two fall here at the cabin.

As I've said before, the Aerie is at an elevation of 2100 feet on the northwest side of a long ridge that runs from the east-northeast to the west-southwest. We have a grand view of the valley that is home to US Route 6 to our north and can almost see into New York State--or at least into the gap carved by the Tioga River and along which US Route 15 passes as it heads toward Corning, NY.



As you can see in the photo above, the snow did not accumulate in the valley at all. When I went down to get the mail at the post office (almost straight ahead in the center of the photo) I found the snow actually stopped on the northern most edge of our property--just about 100 feet down the hill. Terry made the same discovery when she came back from Wellsboro at noon. The snow did npt begin until you reached approximately 2000 feet in elevation.

The snow fell until around 2 PM and by then it was mostly blowing sideways as the winds whipped in from the north. If you look at that second photo above, that view is to the north-northwest. You will notice the abundance of wide open space with absolutely nothing to slow the wind down. I was watching the hanging baskets on the deck rock back and forth in the very high gusts. Occasionally it appeared as though the baskets were held for a split second at a 45 degree angle from the perpendicular. The baskets are not empty. They still contain the potting soil for the petunias that grew in them this spring and summer. They aren't super heavy, as they haven't been watered in weeks (the plants got sun burned and died) and the soil is dry as a bone. Still, the strength of the wind, to blow them to a 45 degree angle...impressive.

And cold. The high temperature today was 37 degrees at 12:30 AM. It hovered around 32 degrees all day but it felt much, much colder with the wet snow and very strong winds. Just before we sat down to dinner the temperature had slid down to 30 degrees and I decided it was time to build the first fire of the season in the fireplace.



I even got it lit without having too much smoke drift into the living area. (The secret was to pull the ash shelf and light a half dozen sheets of newspaper to warm the chimney before trying to light the wood fire.) The fire has warmed the box and the circulating fan has kicked in to blow warm air into the living room. I'm surprised one of the cats hasn't staked out the sofa in front of the fireplace...yet.

The snow showers are supposed to continue for the next day or so. I'll have to move some more firewood in from the stack next to the garage tomorrow and put it in the garage where it can dry out a bit more. There's some cherry and oak and maple as well as paper birch out there, some of which was cut two plus years ago. Hopefully it's still in burnable condition.

FIRE!

We had a little excitement here at the Aerie this morning. After clearing the snow from the driveway, Terry went down to the post office for the mail. While she was gone, I stepped out on the deck for some air and saw smoke rising from behind one of the houses a short distance down in the valley. I didn’t think much of it assuming someone was either burning trash or they had a smoky fire in the fireplace. Then I heard the fire sirens sound.

When Terry returned, I was emptying the cat litter when she called to look down the hill. The damn house was on fire! There were a couple of pick-ups in the yard but no fire trucks yet. And the house was pretty well engulfed in flames. The fire trucks eventually showed up but by then there wasn’t a whole lot they could do.



From the time I saw the smoke and heard the sirens to the time the fire trucks pulled up was only about 20 minutes. Not a bad response time for a volunteer organization but way too much time to save the structure. They did pour water on it in what I assume was an attempt to save enough for an investigator to determine the cause of the blaze but that’s about all they could do.

As I write this, about an hour and a half after the first flames were spotted, there are two fire trucks still at the scene and the building is a steaming pile of debris. One or two of the first floor walls are standing but nothing else.

This was an older stick-built structure and it must have been tinder dry. It was really amazing to see how quickly the building was engulfed. I hope and pray that there was no one trapped inside. From watching the actions of the firemen I assume it was a simple structural fire. They certainly were not acting like there might be a threat to human life. I expect we'll learn more when we check the news and/or go for the mail tomorrow.