Hobbs State Park Fire Still Burning
By: Cassidy Hodges
Updated: February 25, 2012
A suspicious blaze that began late Thursday night is still eating up the forest 48 hours later.
"We still have some flames out there, still have some smoke, we have personnel monitoring the fire 24 hours a day making sure it does not escape," says Jay Schneider, the Assistant Park Superintendent.
Because now the burn is all part of Hobbs State Park rangers' plan to keep the woods safe.
"It actually does have some great benefit to it once it's contained and once the safety issue is concerned. Our primary concern on a fire like this is to contain the smoke," says Schneider.
He says fire can be great for the environment.
It helps burn up all the fuel on the ground--like leaves or logs.
"So if we do have a lightning strike or a power line go down in the area and it starts a wildfire like this one, there's not a lot of fuel to consume and we don't get a catastrophic fire."
It also burns up unwanted greenery--like Kudzu--a vine that kills natural vegetation.
"With this fire starting as slow as it did, it gave the animals plenty of time to escape."
But during the summer, the fire's impact could have been much different.
"This time of year we don't have any birds nesting on the ground yet and most of our reptiles and amphibians are probably still safe underground in hibernation mode."
Schneider says they were lucky this fire didn't hurt any buildings or trails, but it's still suspicious.
"This fire was started well off the road approximately 400 yards down a deep hollow and up the next ridge so the possibilities get less and less as you look at that because that would've taken a much longer walk in for someone to do that."
While this section of the woods continues to smolder, the Arkansas Forestry Commission is trying to figure out how the blaze began.
"We still have some flames out there, still have some smoke, we have personnel monitoring the fire 24 hours a day making sure it does not escape," says Jay Schneider, the Assistant Park Superintendent.
Because now the burn is all part of Hobbs State Park rangers' plan to keep the woods safe.
"It actually does have some great benefit to it once it's contained and once the safety issue is concerned. Our primary concern on a fire like this is to contain the smoke," says Schneider.
He says fire can be great for the environment.
It helps burn up all the fuel on the ground--like leaves or logs.
"So if we do have a lightning strike or a power line go down in the area and it starts a wildfire like this one, there's not a lot of fuel to consume and we don't get a catastrophic fire."
It also burns up unwanted greenery--like Kudzu--a vine that kills natural vegetation.
"With this fire starting as slow as it did, it gave the animals plenty of time to escape."
But during the summer, the fire's impact could have been much different.
"This time of year we don't have any birds nesting on the ground yet and most of our reptiles and amphibians are probably still safe underground in hibernation mode."
Schneider says they were lucky this fire didn't hurt any buildings or trails, but it's still suspicious.
"This fire was started well off the road approximately 400 yards down a deep hollow and up the next ridge so the possibilities get less and less as you look at that because that would've taken a much longer walk in for someone to do that."
While this section of the woods continues to smolder, the Arkansas Forestry Commission is trying to figure out how the blaze began.
