From the fire into the...other fire

A "green oasis" in Philadelphia. Sigh. Photo courtesy
Free Library of Philadelphia.

After living within the densely populated, concrete confines of Philadelphia, we were ecstatic to move to Oregon. Finally - some space to stretch our legs, and more lonely coniferous forest trails than the average person can hike in a lifetime. 

As our truck rolled down Highway 20 towards Sisters that warm summer morning, we took in the sight of the vast wilderness areas around us. Then, a faint whiff of wood smoke. Then, a not-so-faint whiff of wood smoke, accompanied by some serious smoky haze on the horizon. 

Cars ahead stopped and turned around on the highway. We followed suit. The Pole Creek Fire made us change our plans that day. This was in 2012, a particularly bad fire season in the Pacific Northwest. According to the The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, more than 1.4 million acres burned. The Pole Creek Fire burned 26,000 acres.

The Bear Butte Fire.

We decided to salvage the day and instead hike on a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. The Square Lake hike goes through areas burned in the 2003 B&B Complex fire, which destroyed nearly 91,000 acres when the Bear Butte and Booth fires joined. Both fires were started by lightning strikes, which provided the heat in the fuel-heat-oxygen fire triangle. Dry conditions and downed and insect-killed trees fueled the raging fires. 

Burned snags checker the burgeoning
understory at Square Lake.
Photo by Craig Eisenbeis.

Charred snags and dead trees surrounded us along the trail. We never saw another soul as we hiked, making it feel as post-apocalyptic as it looked. As we got closer to the lake, green understory flourished and young lodgepole pines peppered the landscape –- succession in action. 

While this area will continue to recover from the B&B fire, given the fire regimes in Central Oregon, and the new normal of a warmer, drier climate, it is very likely to meet with fire again during our lifetime.