Holdover

Lincoln Firefighters spent several hours Thursday evening, Aug. 22, battling a fire burning deep inside a large cottonwood on the southeast corner of the Sleepy Hollow Trailer Park, at the edge of town next to Stemple Pass Road.

Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse said the fire was most likely a holdover from a lightning strike on July 13. He said a limb from the tree fell onto the road that day, but at the time it wasn't clear the tree had been hit by lightning.

"It was just a mess," Muse said. "Cottonwood is real punky inside. It burned internally until it burned out the bottom and got some air, then off to the races."

With the center of the tree compromised, air from below created a chimney effect that pushed the fire up and out the top of the tree, where it began burning through limbs.

The tree's proximity to the powerlines along Stemple Pass road added to the firefighter's challenge. Until Shea Forkan with Northwestern Energy cut the power to the section, they were unable to spray the tree with water from the road, and were forced to use caution while working from the trailer court side, due to the chance of electrocution.

With the power cut, they brought in the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department's large water tender Big John and put the water cannon mounted on the front bumper to use, directing water into the top of the tree from a safe distance.

The large tree ultimately had to come down, and the LVFD put in a request to the U.S. Forest Service for assistance. Muse explained that due to the size of the tree, the danger presented by internal burning and the proximity to the powerlines, they needed an experienced Class C faller to bring the tree down safely. Lincoln Ranger District Fire Management Officer Jarel Kurz, joined fellow Forest Service firefighter by Bill Schroeder, handled the job, dropping the cottonwood away from the road and powerlines and onto the neighboring property owned by Cody Spence.

Firefighters then worked until 10:30 p.m., cutting up the tree to fully extinguish the fire inside.

"It just kind of makes you think how many other ones may be out there, doing the same thing," Muse said.

Muse said it also serves as cautionary note for landowners to keep a close eye on trees that have been struck by lightning for quite a while, even if they believed it's been thoroughly extinguished.

"You never know. There could be a lot more to it," he said.

Surprisingly, this wasn't the most extreme case of a holdover fire Muse has dealt with. He recalled fighting a fire in a slash pile north of town in November several years ago. It smoldered deep inside the pile throughout the winter and, with the right combination of warm weather and wind, came back to life the following May.