Range fire and locked gates.

[JB]

Yesterday I had smoke columns north, east and west of The Hideout. Northwest wind. Scary.<br /><br />Some gossip at the Post Office was that the Jacksboro fire (north of here) got away because firefighters were locked out of threatened pastures by padlocked gates. Don't know if that is true, but it might be. There has been some rustling around here lately.<br /><br />When I came home I took the padlocks off the gates leading into our range.<br /><br />Are your gates locked when you are away?

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

JB, on my little place that mom lives on, I learned that if they want in bad enough padlocks won't stop them so I don't lock mine anymore.

 

[heycods]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Out of 20 gates that go to the road on this place all are unlocked except the one going to Brothers lake cabin. But I live on a hill (LIZARD HILL) that overlooks most of our place. Grandpa built a new house on this place in 1946 and the doors were never locked until he moved to town in"86." A lock only keeps an honest man honest"

 

[heycods]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

You would think in these times the fire dept would carry bolt cutters. I know around here they will cut the fences to get from one pasture to the other in a fire. Even fences on different owners places, as it should be. Cut my fence please, put out the fire Ill find the cows later.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

All of our fire depts cut fences if need be. When I was with the Sheriffs Office we would cut a fence if we needed to also. I also carried supplies to fix a fence. Never had a complaint about any of it. Most of the time we rigged a fence where cows would get out or some DA would drive through it. My gate has a lock on it. Its nothing a bolt cutter wouodn't remove in about 2 seconds though.

 

[dogsdad]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

That's a scary thing, JB.<br /><br />I didn't realize you were so close to my neighborhood---I thought Whitt was closer to Austin. I've seen and smelled the smoke from the fires, and our place is at risk too.<br /><br />I heard a forecast that mentioned the possibility of some rain. Let's say our prayers and wash all our cars and trucks!<br /><br />Our place is a few miles east of the north end of Eagle Mountain, and nine or ten miles west of Texas Motor Speedway. You are probably familiar with the neighborhood.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

yikes JB, is there anything you can do to reduce your risk of loss if wildfire does head your way?

 

[deputydawg]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

When I lived in South Dakota we were the same way, alwasy on fire watch and every rancher came running at any sign of smoke. Usually firemen will not allow a locked gate to stop them, especially if it means a fire gets away. <br />If we ran into a locked gate we would 1, ram the gate open...2 cut the fence beside the gate...or 3 cut the lock if we had a truck with cutters. <br /><br />Very few range fires once we got into them were fought from any roads. Usually we hit the pastures and worked beside and behind the fire eliminating the need for gates. We usually had at least 1 road grader making fire breaks ahead of us and fire roads behind us so they cleared a lot of the fences. <br /><br />On my land I grazed the grass really short in 60 yard strips around the main corrals and home place. This wouldn't completely stop a fire, most fires I fought would jump it but it would slow down enough a truck could keep up. We also would have several tractors with disks running in front of the fire to slow it down. <br />I just can't see a locked gate stopping firemen, unless the fences are a lot better than old barbed wire.

 

[neumanns]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Doe's this mean if a house is burning and the door is locked and there is no one home to give them permision to fight the fire they just wait outside and watch it burn....I doubt a lock would slow them down much.<br /><br />No wonder wildfire spread's like rumors, to much fuel.<br /><br /><br />Stay safe and don't repeat this a the barber shop, ....That's how rumors get started.

 

[JB]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Many of the "upscale" ranches around here sport steel pipe gates and fences.<br /><br />It makes sense to carry big bolt cutters on any rural fire equipment, but even then it slows the equipment down when seconds often count.<br /><br />As I said, it was the gossip.<br /><br />Dogsdad, you are pretty close to my #1 daughter, who lives about 2 miles west of Boyd. Whitt is about midway between Miserable Wells and Jacksboro, far northwest corner of Parker County.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Who's gonna waste time looking for a gate in an emergency?<br />Not me. Thats what trucks are for.

 

[JB]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

If the fence is built to resist determined attack by bison it may do some injury to a truck.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Although "ranges" per say, are a thing of the past in Lee County (it's totally residential now), bolt cutters are standard equipment on brush trucks in our local fire district. They get used too.<br />Since the fire seasons of 1993 and 1999, they are even more prepaired, because we lost a few homes in Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral.<br />This is NOT a pic of one of our trucks, but it's very simular. This one is "store-bought", wheras ours are "assembled" in-house. They can get there, but the bolt cutters are used on fence lines so the paint don't get scratched....We can't have that, now, can we? <br />

 

[OBJ]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Ya' should try a brush fire set in the picturesque hills along the Muddy Banks.... <br /><br />Most times we can only get the brush truck close and end up packing in with Indian Tanks spades and shovels. Makes a long day.

 

[heycods]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

JB said<br />. Whitt is about midway between Miserable Wells and Jacksboro, far northwest corner of Parker County. [/QB][/quote]<br /><br />Heycods said: Is that any way to talk about your HOME towns? Are you a whittite or a Mineral Wellian ? <br /><br /> We hav went 3 days without a fire in Coleman Co<br />Im keeping my fingers crosed.<br /> <br /> Did you know you live out in the Boondocks?

 

[Serentiy]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Here I'm watering the grass 30' around my house. My friends a firefighter and is battling a lot of grass fires around here. The sad thing is that today is another red flag fire alert.<br />we need rain in Tx. Ok. ks. Real bad<br />Serenity

 

[heycods]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Its not supposed to be good for your yard grass to be cut too short during freezing wearher, But I have mine cut to the ground, I can plant more grass later, but I dont wont to rebuild my house. If fire gets up to my house (unlikely, goats are good mowers.) its going to have a hard time trying to find anything to burn.

 

[JB]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

Fair point, heycods. <br /><br />I tease Mineral Wells, but that is where I do most business. It is a town. Whitt is a Post Office and a Fire Station.<br /><br />I am neither Whittite nor Miserable Wellian. I am Hid out.

 

[DJ]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

I fear that some of that behavior (locked gates) may be due to the fear of lawsuits.

 

[AJ168]

Re: Range fire and locked gates.

I'm a volunteer firefight in NJ. We never let a locked gate keep us from a fire. We keep what we call a "universal key" on every truck. Just a giant beastly pair of bolt cutters. We've had to use it a couple times. We even ran over a fence that we sort of beat down with our brush truck once. Thank God for brush gaurds. <br />Luckily we rarely have to deal with brush fires, and when we do, they're started by something else, and there's so many people around that they get called in before they're too large. Normally we just have people illegally burning trash.