So...
Yesterday I started the stove as usual, pushed the coals off to the right side, removed about 4-5 shovels full of ashes, put them into the the enameled bucket I keep by the stove, and put the lid on it. Pulled the coals back over to the left and in front of the inlet air at the back of the stove and put a couple pieces of bone-dry box elder on top of the coals and I was off to the races. Last thing I did was to put the now full bucket of ashes outside to empty in a day or so. I used to have a special spot where I dumped ashes, well away from anything burnable. Last year we started gardening again, so I've been putting them on the garden. Not only am I getting free fertilizer, it is about the safest place to dump ashes on my property.
Well, I went about my day, prepping for the big blizzard we were supposed to get. About 3 PM I noticed out the corner of my eye that snow was starting to blow pretty hard. It wasn't snowing yet, so I just assumed it was the wee bit we had on the ground kicking up in the wind. Then about 3:30 I looked out the window again and saw that the snow wasn't blowing around everywhere, just from one particular spot in the yard. And it wasn't snow after all... it was smoke!
WTF! I called out quick to the wife, asking her if she dumped those ashes. "Yeah, I dumped them over the bank." And directly onto that big brush pile we had built this spring when we reclaimed 20' on our perimeter. :ahhh:
"Well, get your _____ a$$ down here, we have a fire on our hands."
Hose put away for the season, water shut off at the outside nozzle, but wanting to avoid the FD if at all possible. I ran out there with two gallon jugs of spring water to assess the situation. Thank God, the prevailing wind here had shifted for the afternoon, and the wind was coming out of the Northeast. If those 30 MPH winds were coming from the southwest it would have been a pretty nasty fire that would have had to be put out by the FD. Through another stroke of luck, I had finally decided to tackle those big box elder rounds that had taken up two pallets of space until a few weeks ago when I got my electric splitter, or they would have been in a direct line to the blowing flames. As it was, there wasn't a stick on the pallets, but the pallets themselves were in full flame.
Lady BK kept filling 2 1/2 gallon cat litter containers she kept wanting to recycle (now she knows why I save stuff like this) and I kept running them out. An hour later I could see in the light of my headlamp that there was no visible steam anymore, and the whole are looked thoroughly quenched. Maybe 100 gallons or more dumped on the fire. Still, I didn't go to sleep until I made one last check and saw that the snow was covering the spot the same as the rest of the yard. Finally, at about 2 AM I went to sleep. Alone.
First time in 31 years I made Lady BK sleep on the couch.
Yesterday I started the stove as usual, pushed the coals off to the right side, removed about 4-5 shovels full of ashes, put them into the the enameled bucket I keep by the stove, and put the lid on it. Pulled the coals back over to the left and in front of the inlet air at the back of the stove and put a couple pieces of bone-dry box elder on top of the coals and I was off to the races. Last thing I did was to put the now full bucket of ashes outside to empty in a day or so. I used to have a special spot where I dumped ashes, well away from anything burnable. Last year we started gardening again, so I've been putting them on the garden. Not only am I getting free fertilizer, it is about the safest place to dump ashes on my property.
Well, I went about my day, prepping for the big blizzard we were supposed to get. About 3 PM I noticed out the corner of my eye that snow was starting to blow pretty hard. It wasn't snowing yet, so I just assumed it was the wee bit we had on the ground kicking up in the wind. Then about 3:30 I looked out the window again and saw that the snow wasn't blowing around everywhere, just from one particular spot in the yard. And it wasn't snow after all... it was smoke!
WTF! I called out quick to the wife, asking her if she dumped those ashes. "Yeah, I dumped them over the bank." And directly onto that big brush pile we had built this spring when we reclaimed 20' on our perimeter. :ahhh:
"Well, get your _____ a$$ down here, we have a fire on our hands."
Hose put away for the season, water shut off at the outside nozzle, but wanting to avoid the FD if at all possible. I ran out there with two gallon jugs of spring water to assess the situation. Thank God, the prevailing wind here had shifted for the afternoon, and the wind was coming out of the Northeast. If those 30 MPH winds were coming from the southwest it would have been a pretty nasty fire that would have had to be put out by the FD. Through another stroke of luck, I had finally decided to tackle those big box elder rounds that had taken up two pallets of space until a few weeks ago when I got my electric splitter, or they would have been in a direct line to the blowing flames. As it was, there wasn't a stick on the pallets, but the pallets themselves were in full flame.
Lady BK kept filling 2 1/2 gallon cat litter containers she kept wanting to recycle (now she knows why I save stuff like this) and I kept running them out. An hour later I could see in the light of my headlamp that there was no visible steam anymore, and the whole are looked thoroughly quenched. Maybe 100 gallons or more dumped on the fire. Still, I didn't go to sleep until I made one last check and saw that the snow was covering the spot the same as the rest of the yard. Finally, at about 2 AM I went to sleep. Alone.
First time in 31 years I made Lady BK sleep on the couch.
