Rfalconcam Forum

from rnews:

Seneca County Wildfire Contained to 700 Acres
By: Chris Gallegos
A wildfire burned in Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in Seneca County for much of the day Sunday.
"It would come up and then would die down a little bit,” said L.C. Collins who saw the smoke from Waterloo. “Then it would go further and spread and come back whatever way the wind was going."

"We saw tons of smoke and ashes come up at us,” said Maggie Lesch of Auburn. "Me and my grandma and my mom hopped into the car to see where it was."

Refuge officials said 700 acres have burned, but the fire is 100 percent contained.

"The concern is with the peat fire, if it goes underground and could smolder for days and could create a real smoke management issue, especially with the New York State Thruway or Routes 5 and 20," refuge manager Tom Jasikoff.

The fire is on an island in the marshland and does not look to spread past the 700 acres already burned. The fire was concentrated in the cattails and marsh area of the main pool where Maple Island is in the refuge.

"We've had a lot of cattail burn,” said Jasikoff. “That is what is creating a lot of the black smoke."

Black smoke could be seen as far away as Auburn Sunday; motorists on the thruway could also see the smoke.

"The fuel load is tremendous,” he added. “It almost burns like cardboard. It's so hot."


The Auburn Fire Department said Montezuma does a controlled burn in the spring to clear out dried grass and promote new growth, but wildlife officials said this is not a controlled burn. There is some good news, however, to a wildfire like this.
"It actually may turn out to be relatively useful for getting rid of the excess fuel load and also for opening up the marsh, which we are trying to do anyway along the thruway,” said Jasikoff.

Montezuma National Park is located between Syracuse and Rochester in Seneca and Wayne counties. It consists of more than 8,000 acres.

Montezuma serves as a major resting area for waterfowl and waterbirds.

While fire crews are still investigating, refuge officials believe someone may have started the fire.

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

:viking:  I hate that!

Thanks for the update Jeanne.  We heard about it while on watch yesterday.