Current:Home > InvestA New Mexico firewatcher describes watching his world burn -Blueprint Wealth Network
A New Mexico firewatcher describes watching his world burn
View
Date:2025-04-14 05:08:19
When a wildfire forced Philip Connors to evacuate in a hurry a few weeks ago, he wasn't just any fire evacuee. He works for the U.S. Forest Service as a fire lookout, responsible for spotting wildfires early.
"The essence of the job is to stay awake and look out the window and alert the dispatch office at the first sign of smoke," he explained.
His usual perch is a small room at the top of a 35-foot tower in a remote corner of the Gila National Forest, about a 5 mile hike from the nearest dirt road. It's his home for about half the year.
But when the Black Fire crept too close, he packed up his belongings for a helicopter to ferry out, and hiked out with a colleague, his relief lookout who helped him pack.
"I'm not ashamed to admit I hugged a few trees before I left, some of my favorites," Conners said. He described how the mix of trees changes depending on elevation, from a mix of conifers intermingled with aspen at the highest elevations, to a belt of ponderosa and oak, then pinyon pine and juniper.
Connors, who is also a writer, deeply loves the forest he has watched over every summer for the past 20 years. But it was a different forest two decades ago, and will be even more changed once the flames die down.
At first, he thought of the lookout job as a paid writing retreat with good views. But over time he became a witness to the changes brought on by a warmer, drier climate.
"The place became my citadel and my solace. And it's given me so much joy and beauty over the years," he said. "Now it's almost like the tables are turned, like it is in need of solace because big chunks of it are being transformed and going away."
He notices the signs everywhere. At the highest elevations, the oldest conifers used to be snowed in through late March. Now there's less snow, and the soil is drier.
When he hiked up the mountain for the first time this spring to open the tower, "with every footstep I was sending up little puffs of powder from the soil," he said. "I had never seen that this time of year."
The Black Fire started on May 13, and Connors watched it grow into a megafire.
"It was kind of an exercise in psychic disturbance, to live in the presence of this thing that I felt certain would eventually force me to flee," he said. "Even at night, you start dreaming about it because it's just this presence lurking on your horizon. Then I would climb the tower after dark and have a look. Seven, 8, 9 miles of my northern horizon would be glowing with fire."
After his regular lookout was evacuated, he was moved to another where the fire had already burned over.
Connors said the spruce, pine and fir forests at high elevations are vanishing from his part of the world.
"My arrival in this part of the world coincided very neatly with the onset of the worst megadrought we've seen in more than a thousand years," he said.
The Gila Wilderness will never be the same for the Gila trout, salamanders, pocket gophers, tree frogs, elk, deer and black bears, or for Connors. But he'll observe the burn scars and how the forest heals. He says his responsibility is to "see what it wants to become next."
veryGood! (485)
Related
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- The case for a soft landing in the economy just got another boost
- A new U.S. agency is a response to the fact that nobody was ready for the pandemic
- Kelsea Ballerini Urges Fans Not to Dig Up Morgan Evans Divorce Drama Ahead of Extended EP Release
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Otter attacks three women floating on inner tubes in Montana’s Jefferson River
- 8 ways to reduce food waste in your home
- Taylor Swift Gifts Vanessa and Kobe Bryant's Daughter Bianka Her 22 Hat at Eras Tour
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- You Only Have 24 Hours To Save 25% On These Comfy Clarks Loafers, Which Are the Perfect Fall Shoes
Ranking
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Southern Charm's Season 9 Trailer Teases 2 Shocking Hookups
- A Texas man faces a possible death sentence after being convicted of fatally shooting a law officer
- ‘Halliburton Loophole’ Allows Fracking Companies to Avoid Chemical Regulation
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Botched Patient Who Almost Died From a Tummy Tuck Gets Makeover You Won't Believe
- No live lion, no problem: Detroit sells out season tickets at Ford Field for first time
- California judge arrested in connection with wife’s killing
Recommendation
FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
Tension intensifies between College Board and Florida with clash over AP psychology course
Biden’s inaction on death penalty may be a top campaign issue as Trump and DeSantis laud executions
James Barnes, Florida man who dropped appeals, executed for 1988 hammer killing of nurse
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
A Learjet pilot thought he was cleared to take off. He wasn’t. Luckily, JetBlue pilots saw him
North Dakota regulators deny siting permit for Summit carbon dioxide pipeline
Southern Charm's Season 9 Trailer Teases 2 Shocking Hookups