CASCADE SPRINGS, Wasatch Mountain State Park — It's unusual for forest officials to feel good about such a scene. The wind is light but getting stronger. The sun is bright; air is warm.
Clouds of wispy brown smoke are starting to crest the ridge of the hill. Orange flames are creeping down through the gully. There is definitely a fire in the forest.
But this time, the firefighters were the ones striking the match. That's right — they sparked the fire on purpose.
"This is new for me," said Shaun Nelson, an information officer for the firefighters at the Cascade Springs fire in the Dry Fork area Thursday. "We were always putting fires out. I never lit them."
For most of the people involved with the fires in the hills east of Heber City, fire prevention is the norm. To deliberately start fires seems contradictory to their purpose. However, a prescription burn is actually considered a prevention measure.
"We burn out the old, dead oak in the gullies," Nelson said. "That allows new growth to come in and lessens the wildfire potential."
In the Cascade Springs area, there are 3,800 acres of land that need fire to help restore a healthful balance.
Tinder-dry fuels of deadwood need to be burned in a controlled situation to help avoid the risk of a catastrophic wildfire.
Insects and disease need to be burned out. New and diverse vegetation then has a chance to sprout and take root.
"We plan three burn blocks in the Cascade Springs area beginning this year and continuing through 2010," said Nelson. "We'll do one each year to allow the area time to recover. This is the first. We'll be doing a 1,200-acre block but only burning about 800 acres in a one-day deal."
A fire is started only after officials have determined a burn can be safely conducted. It can't be too hot or too cold.
The moisture content in the trees and shrubs must be low — but not too low. Weather is also a factor. Crews avoid stormy or extremely windy conditions.
And, crews make sure there are no people inside the burn area camping, fishing or hunting.
"It takes probably 15 to 20 people to help make the decision to burn," Nelson said. "We have the wildlife people involved, ecologists, hydrologists, the fisheries experts."
The agencies involved must coordinate their efforts with precision. They work out a plan so the burn travels in a mosaic pattern, leaving plenty of options open for wildlife while avoiding the creation of potential erosion problems.
At Cascade Springs Thursday, two units from the North Fork Fire District based at Sundance Resort stood by to provide pumper trucks and backup engines. Forest and state engines and personnel were strategically placed.
Balls filled with a mixture that ignites when the they hit the ground, burst and oxygen mixes with the flammable chemicals, were ferried in by helicopter.
A dozen well-outfitted fire starters worked their way from one border of the burn to the other with torches, using roads and streams as natural boundaries for the flames that consumed aspen, oak, maple and conifer trees.
Forest employees set up roadblocks to keep traffic out and to provide information for the curious.
It was a perfect burn day. The fire, stubborn at first, started slowly. Once it took hold, trees and bushes blazed.
The burn proved successful and no one was hurt.
A new era begins for a forest that had begun to decay and die.
"We're very careful," said Loyal Clark, spokeswoman for the Uinta National Forest office. "There's a lot at stake."
You can reach Sharon Haddock by e-mail at haddoc@desnews.com.