November 2022 • Nebraskaland 33
The early arrivals milled about in small groups sipping
coff ee, talking and joking, while the latecomers organized
their gear and donned their bright yellow and dull green,
fi re-resistant Nomex clothing. Represented were staff of
The Nature Conservancy, Game and Parks, Northern Prairies
Land Trust and Turner Enterprises, Inc., as well as several
volunteers. They were a tight-knit group, most having burned
together in the past. When all were ready, Chad Bladow, the
conservancy's prescribed fi re coordinator and burn boss for
this fi re, huddled the crew together for a briefi ng, and the
mood turned serious.
Maps of the burn unit were passed out, and Bladow
reviewed the ignition pattern, possible danger areas and the
day's weather. He then assigned each member to one of four
teams and assigned line bosses, his trusted fi eld lieutenants,
to lead each team. Three teams would light the fi re using drip
torches, fuel-fi lled metal canisters with long spouts from
which fuel drips across a burning wick and onto the ground.
The fourth team would patrol the fi re breaks in all-terrain
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife biologist
Cassidy Wessel, left, and retired Commission employee
Marilyn Tabor, right, patrol the south fi re line.
GERRY STEINAUER, NEBRASKALAND
The resinous bark of
ponderosa pines is easily
ignited during burns. Winds
can carry embers from
these hot-burning trees
across fi re lines posing the
danger of spot fi res.
CHRIS HELZER, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
