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Summer 2005 |
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70,000 Acres Burn at Mojave National Preserve under “Perfect Storm” Conditions
This June, the “Hackberry Complex” fires, started by dry lightning storm strikes, burned through the Mojave National Preserve. The fires burned in and around the Mid-Hills—between the northern Providence Mountains and southern New York Mountains—and also in the Hackberry Mountains, primarily in higher elevations above 4,000 feet. High fuel loads and high temperatures, sustained winds, low humidity, and steep terrain combined to create extreme conditions that enabled the fires to blow up.
By the time the fires were contained, 70,736 acres, five homes, six structures, and other outbuildings had burned. Dozens more were saved thanks to the efforts of 1,122 firefighters. Yuccas, junipers, Joshua trees, and chollas were reduced to blackened skeletons, while sage, blashbrush, and other shrubs were burned to ash. While a Mojave fire of this magnitude is infrequent, it isn’t an unusual part of the desert lifecycle. But be warned: The rainy spring covered the desert with lots of plants that are now vulnerable to fire this summer.
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