Mountain Biking - My local ride spot burned

Some arsonist idiot burned a third of a small yet popular wilderness park (Peter's Canyon in Orange County, CA) that I ride and trail run in all the time. There were actually two fires, one sunday--the smaller and another wednesday--much more damaging. They caught the guy yesterday and believe he did the sunday one as well. It was so sad riding there today (I only heard of the first fire). No animals or birds around (I woulda left being freaked out too). It smelled bitter, not like a fireplace. I stopped along some single track in the middle of the charred area a few times and almost cried. There was nothing but burnt ground. Hopefully it will come back soon. I hope something like this doesn't happen to your place of escape.

Thats really sad news mate, I hope it regrows soon. Some people really have no commonsense or thought for other people.

Thats ally baf.... :(... do u not have any other places u could ride? Just until the trail grows back?

Sad, but it will come back. Maybe nicer since some seeds won't germinate untill after a fire - nature's way of ensuring survival of that species.

Wounder what goes on in some one's head to make them do something like that?

Joe

My bro-in-law was a heli pilot and worked a couple of fire seasons. He flew bird that looks like a giant grasshopper. It's Sirkorsky something or other. They would fly a huge bucket on a long lead line and dump a couple hundred gallons at a time in places where others couldn't get to.

Anyways, they were working one fire in Nor Cal and he and his crew witnessed someone re-starting one of the blazes they just spent three days trying to put out. Turned out to be one of the firefighters, he got arrested and his reasoning was he was broke, just divorced and his wife took everything. He needed the extra money he would earn during the summers fighting these huge blazes to survive the upcoming year. Wierd demented act of desperation!

I guess he won't worry about paying for food or rent while in jail!

L8R

Hi gang, there are some freakin' nuts out there--I have no idea what goes thru peoples heads. I've heard arsonists are amazed by the fire, having control or power, the attention the fire/they get, even a sexual rush (yuk!), etc. Now, that firefighter guy--I've read of ones that have done similar. There was a guy who was starting them so he could be first responder and be the big hero! As for riding, there are other spots around but this was my fave for a quick loop. I'll still ride it, probably see the growth changes occur over time. The weirdest thing is that the singletrack is still plain dirt but everything else next to it is charred black.

Rather bittersweet I know, but watching a place grow back after a fire can be awesome. Everything gets so green the next spring. Take some pics now, compare them next year, and in five years.

Hmm... yeh.. then ud actually respect the trial more probably... and as joeprim said it couild look even better after :)

I ride there frequently myself. Here are a few pictures of the damage.

http://www.neophytes.org/fire/2003_08-13_01.jpg
http://www.neophytes.org/fire/2003_08-13_02.jpg
http://www.neophytes.org/fire/2003_08-13_03.jpg

Thanks for the pix. You should take one from the point of origin--by the rest bench halfway down the main trail looking east towards the back of Big Red. I hope they get enough evidence to get him for both fires.

I'll try to get out there this weekend. Those were given to me by a friend.

welp, i would be near by if i weren't already at school. it really does suck that someone burned the plants. i guess it could be worse if they shutdown the trails and park access.

I actually look forward to when our bush gets burnt out. Clears out all of the dead stuff and spear grass etc. Lots of fresh green shhots about a week later. I would never start a fire though, but I do think we need controlled burn offs. The aussie bush actually needs fire as part of it's cycle, but it needs to be done before it gets too dry and the fires then become too big to control.