Last Saturday the terrific folks at Tres Rios Wetlands in Phoenix teamed up with other terrific folks from the Phoenix Fire Department to do a controlled burn of cattails. Cattails make a valuable contribution to a wetlands, providing habitat for wildlife and purifying water. However, their value diminishes when they become so thick that they choke the area that they inhabit, as in the photo below.
Along with a few other observers, I watched from the southern edge of the 3.2 acre pond shown above as the fireman ignited the northern edge and the fire moved toward us. The three photos below show the fire’s advance.
We onlookers had to change our position as the fire approached, but not out of danger from the flames; knowledgeable onlookers remarked several times that the fire was “well behaved.” It was smoke that drove us to new positions.
The fireman managed to burn the cattails while protecting a gazebo that they surround at the center of the pond and a bridge that crosses the pond at its western side.
I will make another visit to Tres Rios soon to see how the pond and cattails look after the burn. Stay tuned!
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See two previous posts about Tres Rios Wetlands: Bobcats At Tres Rios and Wandering Tres Rios.
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November 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hey,
Lovely textures in your photos. I’m no photographer but I know what I like. good work. How are things out there? We’ve had a bit of snow, but in Gander they had about 15 cm on the weekend. It’s cold now though, around -2 to +5 generally. Hi to all.
Ron Pellerin in NL
November 9th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Great pictures. I will have to go and see this place.It sounds and looks like a wonderful project.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Ron — thanks for the kudos on the pics. No snow here
Dean — yes, do visit Tres Rios. Be aware that on weekends they close the gates at 11AM. Here are currently posted hours.
6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday
6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Closed on City holidays
Best to check the web site as hours may change — http://www.tresrios.net