Almost a disaster.....

[Big Muddy]

Yesterday at noon, my elderly neighbor decided to burn off a small field for a foodplot....he joins my property on the backside, and I happened to ride by, and saw the smoke, so I stopped to watch for a few minutes....it's been so dry here, I really didn't think it was a good idea, but he had disked around the field to contain the fire....however, only a turn-row separates his foodplot from his 160 acre WRP land.

A small rain front was to move thru our area, and suddenly the wind shifted out of the north....embers started flying upward, and set his WRP field on fire....I didn't even hesitate, and called my ag pilot buddy, who has rented my farm land, and he said he was on the way.

I quickly drove to my shop, and loaded up my Ranger, which already had a powered spray tank in the bed for spot-spraying weeds....the ag pilot and I got there about the same time....he had brought both of his ag planes loaded with water, and the fight was on.

He and his other pilot were precise with dumping the water, and quickly stopped the fire from spreading....all I had to do was put out the smoldering embers with my spray rig....in the heat of the battle, it never crossed my mind to snap any pics of their "aerial assault", but it looked like those fire-fighting planes that you see on tv.

Fortunately, a short time later we got a rain shower, and only about an acre or so got burned, but, left unattended, that fire could have been a disaster for my old neighbor....the gummint is VERY protective of the land that landowners have enrolled in the WRP program, and could have ended up with him being penalized thousands of dollars.

My ag pilot buddy owns two of these 802A/B aircraft....they are the world's largest single engine aircraft, and only cost about $1.2 million each, give or take a few bucks....those ag pilot cowboys earn every cent. ;)

This is sorta what it looked like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgATvV0Z7b8

[Chicken Dinner]

I've gotta agree with you about the wisdom of doing a controlled burn if it's been real dry. It's just too easy for things to get out of hand.

[Thumper]

You don't have to have burn permits out there? I seriously doubt a permit would have been issued if it's been that dry out your way. So, who pays the Ag pilots for their flight time? Flight hours ain't cheap.

[No-till Boss]

No permits on agriculture ground .

[HideHunter]

They won't/don't give permits anymore on ag ground (at least in Iowa) - because a landowner burned off 4 farms and two houses a few years ago, while working under a permit.. So, the "victims" did the normal thing.. they sued the government.. Now, we're all on our own.

[Thumper]

I don't know squat about it ... I just assumed there was some sort of permitting involved. Learn sumpin' new every day.

[Arty]

I'm waiting for cappy to weigh in on this. He's a certified yogi bear fire maker field burner.

[Big Muddy]

Thump, it was a freebie ag job....you know, neighbors helping neighbors, down here....ag pilot's airstrip in only about a minute's flight time from my place.

Nope, no permits are required....however, our local board of supervisors does issue "burn bans", occasionally....rain has been so scattered, this summer, it would be nearly impossible for them to designate specific areas, without creating a lot of confusion of over-lapping areas....most landowners, down here, are pretty responsible, and follow the necessary fire safety procedures, when burning crop stubble, etc.

[Captain]

I've had to go through they prescribed fire agent schooling. The way it is here is they do not "approve" you to burn. But you have to call in and later mail in a written fire plan. Telling how many acres you are going to burn, and estimate of how much fuel is on the ground, your pre-fire efforts (plowed breaks, signage near roads, notifying neighbors etc) how many personnel and what equipment you have available, what is the affected area for smoke drift ( highways, schools, nursing homes etc...) and much more. They only allow a certain quota of smoke/ash each day. If conditions are favorable to burn and there is room in that quota you can burn. But they are not approving your burn. If you follow everything and the chit hits the fan you are somewhat covered.
If you just light one up and someone died from the smoke or a wildfire gets out you are screwed.
Your neighbor owes you BIG TIME Muddy!