Pine plains on 539 after the fire

Boyd

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Staff member
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Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Here are some new photos... took me awhile to catch on to the new gallery software. I didn't immediately see how to create a new album so I just threw these in with my others, but now I've figured it out :)

Here's something really fascinating which I saw repeatedly. At first I thought a big fire had flared up near me, but it was moving all over the place way too fast. Then I realized I was seeing a vortex of ash blowing around! I processed these as black and white with high contrast to make the pattern more visible:

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More charred landscape stretching on forever:

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Is this some sort of hunter's blind?

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This is evidently a firebreak running from Rt 539 all the way to the bombing range:

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Walking along the edge of the burnt area is an interesting study in contrasts:

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Wildflowers blooming:

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These looks like autumn colors:

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For more photos and higher resolution versions of these, visit my gallery here: http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showgallery.php?limit=last1&cat=509
 

piker56

Explorer
Jan 13, 2006
640
53
67
Winslow
I have this Friday off and will be driving to the fire area. Is the best place to park and take a walk on 539? I will be coming down rt 72 from 532. Thanks.
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,524
238
42
camden county
Awesome photos guys I'm really impressed. Sad to see the dead turtle though looked like a painted which is suprising. Anyone else see any remains of animals?
 

piker56

Explorer
Jan 13, 2006
640
53
67
Winslow
You can park on the shoulder of 539, or if your car can handle it there are several spots along that sand road headed Southwest.[/quote]

I have a 2WD Escape with mud & snow tires. It does ok as long as the sand isn't too deep. Thanks for the info, and the pictures have been great.
 

Ben Ruset

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Oct 12, 2004
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Monmouth County
www.benruset.com
I was down on 539 by the bombing range this weekend. I saw that once you got to the other side of the Range (the South side I guess) the fire tapered off.

All in all, it didn't seem that big to me, but then again I was probably looking in the wrong spots. Where else did the fire hit?
 

Boyd

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Jul 31, 2004
9,508
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Where else did the fire hit?

I want to explore the area more, but it is on both the East and West sides of 539. It seems to have gone due East from 539 until it hit Rt 72 where it appears to have been stopped. But you can see signs of it a few miles Northwest from where the Parkway crosses Rt 72 and it continues along the West side of the road for quite a distance. For the most part it looks like they held it away from the developments on the West side of Rt 72 - one of them has a big sign out front saying "Thank you firefighters for saving our homes". During the fire I remember them saying on the radio that they were trying to keep it from crossing Rt 554 but I didn't check out that area.

I didn't see any signs of the fire on 539 north of the village of Warren Grove. Going South on Rt 539 you lose sight of it for awhile, but then there are signs again near Stafford Forge WMA if you go down South Shore Drive and Forge Rd.

I've attached a really rough guess of the approximate area. Has anyone else seen a map somewhere? I haven't. Maybe we can collaborate to make our own?
 

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bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,155
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
Really neat vortex shots Boyd.....they probably happen all the time out there, but with nothing small to be sucked up, nothing visible.
 
Oct 25, 2006
1,757
1
73
Returning from tuckerton last saturday on rt.539 north,as soon as you went past the overpass on the parkways south bound lanes where the embankment starts,it is burnt out for some distance,then fire free for quite a few miles,i am thinking this was a controlled burn area.
 

Teegate

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Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
8,181
The best place to see complete burn is to drive in the road beside Lucille's restaurant. You can see where they fire cut around all of the homes, and you can also see the Pet Graves :)

Once you come to the fork go right and it is black as far as you can see. That is where I spent most of my time at. If you walk right through the woods you can reach 72 in a few miles. Burnt all the way.

And if you look really, really, really carefull, maybe you might find a Lawrence Line stone. Chances are slim since all four of them in that area are 1 mile apart obviously.

Guy
 

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
1,277
233
61
Vicksburg, Michigan
A photographic offering from the Gremlins. I apologize in advance, our previously great camera was sent out for repair and it isn't right. Everything's out of focus. It may be a setting or something, but we can't figure it out. It may have to go back to Canon.

This was a Corvair, I think. There's something to be said for the "Unsafe at any speed" thing.
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We found this little guy living in the Corvair. He seemed to have escaped the fire, although it looked like he had a bum leg.
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One of the secrets the fire uncovered. What is this marker?
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Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
8,181
That marker is interesting. Was their letters on all sides or just this one? Did it appear that the bottom letter we see is the final letter? Does it appear old or more recent?

Guy
 
A photographic offering from the Gremlins. I apologize in advance, our previously great camera was sent out for repair and it isn't right. Everything's out of focus. It may be a setting or something, but we can't figure it out. It may have to go back to Canon.


Too bad about the OOF (out of focus). Nice shots anyway. Is there a manual focus feature on that camera? Maybe it was set to manual.

Steve
 
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