We have some slash piles of branches and other woody debris. We can burn them when there is snow on the ground and the wind isn't blowing. Ideally, enough fire builds up inside it to completely consume the material.

They are along the side stream that had a lot of flooding in 2013. It cleaned out the channel from far up the mountain, notably removing a huge 40-foot tall log that was across the path and yet it didn't carry away these slash piles. However, it deposited a bunch of silt in the pile, and that's why the piles didn't burn like they should have.

I poke holes in the snow and pour in gasoline and then carefully drop in matches. The fire builds up under the snow.



It never quite took off like it needed to, although some of it did.


This is how the piles ended up, about 3/4 burned.





It's a cold job - there was all that snow and the temperature was around 10 degrees and colder. I was out there for a couple of hours trying to get the fires to take off, and then had to hike back out there to check on it several times. The fire itself is warm, but that's just your face, not feet and other body parts.