Community Chat

[SilleeMee]

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@catter70 wrote:

The same kind of people who shoot off fire crackers during a drought or at least no recent rain. My neighbor does it every July 4th and I worry one will land on my roof  or someone else's and set the house  on fire.

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@catter70

A firecracker did land in my backyard one time and it started a small fire. I was home, put the fire out, then called the fire department and the police. Not sure what happened after that but the fireworks did not stop.

[GinaV24]

I don't understand why people are so irresponsible. Leaving a camp without putting out the fire and taking your trash out with you is wrong in so many ways.

[GinaV24]

@catter70 and there are the people who toss out a lit cigarette from their car into the dry grass. Just plain dumb and so dangerous.

[LavernLuvsShoes]

Careless, thoughtless, wreckless, selfish people - Now, more than ever.

*Sigh* 

[On It]

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@haddon9 wrote:

They need to bring back Smoky The Bear so people can understnad how dangerous it is to just leave a fire going.

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The ironic thing is Smokey Bear was found in the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, NM in part of the forest where the campfires were left last weekend.

A couple of years ago while staying in New Mexico, I mentioned Smokey to a thirty something year-old and that Smokey was buried at Capitan. He turned to me and asked if there was a real Smokey Bear. I told him the whole story. He seemed amazed.

The cartoon character needs to be revived with his deep voice. Kids like him and listen. When I began my teaching career we got all sorts of literature and coloring sheets to share with the children. TV ads were frequent. I occasionally see some ads but nothing like we once had.

[Snowpuppy]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

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@Snowpuppy wrote:

I live in a National Forest.

Perhaps these "campfires" were left unattended by design. We experienced a small fire up here too over the weekend.

If they find you, you'll get the bill.

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@Snowpuppy 

It's illegal to take residence in a National Forest unless the land was privately owned before the National Forest took the land around it.

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I live on a paved road with about 30 homes so I'm not a squatter. 😄 

Forest came into being in 1938.There are several USFS easements that they maintain that allow them access into deep woods.

[chrystaltree]

Yes....    A lot of people go camping now but they are unprepared and clueless.  They don't know how to properly extinguish a campfire.  

[Trailrun23]

Some probably thought they had put out the fire, but most can easily restart spontaneiously from smoldering embers. You should smother the flame, then douse it with water, stir the embers, then douse it again. Rarely do I see anyone do this when we go camping. We also throw a bucket of water on those that clueless campers leave smoldering. 

[We rescue cats]

It is one of my pet peeves to watch a camper pull out of their spot with a fire still smoldering. Inevitiably we end up taking buckets of water to the site to drown it. 

We have a neighbor that shoots off fireworks over one of our fields, even when fire warning are in place. Being what he calls a nasty neighbor we call the state police (he's too friendly with the locals in this small area) and they show up  after 2 visits they fine him.