The year was 1957 and I was taking fire fighting training for my very first NPS job, fighting fires all summer in the Rincons. During the course the question arose about letting fires burn under some circumstances. Our instructors told us that there had been some experimentation with "controlled burns,: which promptly ended when one near Prescott jumped the lines and burned unanticipated acreage. What can you say - even in the best of circumstances, you are playing with fire.

We had a good year. Our first thunderstorms delivered more rain than lightning, so our fires were relatively small and fairly easy to extinguish. The last one I fought was nothing more than a decent campfire by the time we reached it, requiring about fifteen minutes of easy work. The time keeper was amazed that we did not claim any overtime...

Right now is a pretty good time in most of the west to let a fire go. It will usually quietly consume the light fuels and make the forests safer - usually. It is a tricky business.

I have recently had the opportunity to extinguish some campfires in local campgrounds - all situated in highly flammable oak woodland. People are unbelievably obtuse about fire sometimes.