Prescribed Burn 2026
Prescribed burn March 2026
Considering the recent catastrophic wildfires in Nebraska over the past few weeks, we view our recent controlled burn with both relief and gratitude. We were very fortunate to get a narrow time window of gentle winds. Our good neighbors and the Narka Rural Fire Department ensured that the fire stayed within the necessary boundaries.
Managed carefully, fire has proven to be an effective tool in both the establishment of native grass and control of invasive competitors. Great Plains native grass has evolved in the presence of burns ignited by lightning strikes, and native peoples such as the Pawnee used fire to influence Bison migration. Competitors of grass (or weeds) cannot handle fire. Burning incinerates the weeds and their seed stock while the native grass roots remain safely underground. This former cropland, 55 acres, was planted two years ago to a native grass mix. Since then, a smothering entanglement of three-to-four-foot-tall weeds, tinder-dry, covered the entire field. We closely watched the wind forecast from the National Weather Service and were at last blessed with a 12-hour window of gentle westerly winds. After two years of waiting, we seized the moment.
At 6 p.m. a downwind backfire was lit on the east end to burn a 100-foot-wide safety corridor. After observing the fire’s behavior of tending toward a slight southerly movement, we then lit an additional backfire on the southern border. At the same time, the fire truck soaked the entire west end to prevent any backfire spreading to my neighbors to the west. The main fire was then lit in front of this wet corridor. Now the blaze was off to the races; the main fire marched eastward, met the backfired strip, and the entire field was blackened in 20 minutes.
After the adrenaline subsided, we monitored hot spots from scattered log piles over the next several hours as well as several days thereafter. Now we wait for rain and the emergence of a green carpet of native grasses while the Kansas sun warms the lengthening days.
Once again, hats off to my supportive ranching neighbors and the dedicated Narka Volunteer Fire Department.
