The Fires of August 2009

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These pictures were taken just days after the fires began. Police escort was needed to enter our bee sites as the area was nothing but charred trees and sliding hillside - it was also cordoned off as a crime scene as two fire fighters were killed.

There are four sets of pictures -

The Lancaster/Palmdale skies which were miles away from the fire's origin taken 8-29-31

and those taken 9-04 when we were finally allowed access to the area.

We entered up Angeles Crest from the LaCanada/Flintridge area which itself was hard hit as the fires could be seen fingering their way down the mountain sides to the communities. The fire then extended over to Acton by the Freeway 14 - then to the east by way of Monrovia, Arcadia, to San Bernardino. The lack of strong winds was exceptional luck as the heat and flow were more manageable.

Our bee sites at both CC Ridge and The Mesa stood - no bee loss. At CC Ridge one could see water splatter on the site itself having come from above - the area surrounding the site was totally charred. What was once lush heavy growth was simply erased. The Cactus border that Klaus Koepfli, beekeeper, had planted so many years ago served as a barricade against the fire - the plant itself got 'singed' but the flames did not enter the site.

The Mesa - TIPI - Bee Flat - was sparred as well while the entire area around simply disappeared into flames and ash. Again, the fact that the sites themselves are closely monitored for growth and the area around is always removed thus serving as a buffer zone clearly shows.

These few pictures come from the TIPI MISTRESS herself( GWEN SIVERTSEN) as she and David watched the flames approaching... This is private property owned by the Sivertsons.

Brown Mountain - part of the mountain itself showed signs of green areas tucked deep into pocketed regions while the overall was totally seared. The roadway leading to the site itself had not been cleared prior and in some places almost proved impassable but with a little hard work - shoveling and removing the branches/trees it was passable. The actual site itself had been ground torched completely - Only the four or five hives that remained had had closed bottoms; we had experimented with grated open bottoms as a means of cutting down on the mite and other infestation to the bee; but those with open bottoms were completely incinerated offering a chimney effect to the searing flames. Nothing around Brown Mountain exists - not a plant or shrub.

We went up four times to The Mesa and CC Ridge - the first time to survey the situation, again with escort police, and then to remove the 'living hives' - then again to remove all dead-outs and dismantle the sites completely. Brown Mountain was the last to get to as the roads had been reported to be impassable.

On our first several visits we saw a multitude of turkey vultures circling in search of bodies – regular birds had begun to come back and looked very odd sitting on scorched naked limbs; then the crows and ravens came in search of seeds which they gathered and began to 'hide' in the ground. A rabbit and a squirrel were spotted and by the last visit, sprigs of green had begun to surface - no rain but the seed had been germinated and life was determined to resurface.

The air was acrid - eyes itched, lips tasted like char, nose burned and throat became swollen - the air was filled with BURN - it was truly a remarkable landscape that was painful to BE in. The mountains looked like elephant hide, tanned and rough with little pickings of dark hair (these being the tree remnants) - the ground reminded one of dusted frost and wintered trees but it was, in fact, ash and dead trees. If a gentle rain comes first to 'seed' the ground and then is followed by a heavy rain there will be a plethora of flowers, bushes and all manner of wildlife - if it pours heavily first then the mountain will simply wash away to the low lands. I prefer to think lush -

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