Authorities in Utah have suggested that recreational shooters have caused at least 19 fires in the Beehive State so far this year – a notion that has caused quite a discussion on a popular Northwest hiking forum – and the real fire season hasn’t even started.
Coincidentally, this assertion comes within days of a fire ignited near Belfair by a couple of shooters who somehow managed to hit, with an alleged ricochet, a cargo container filled with fireworks, as reported by Seattle’s KOMO, the ABC affiliate.
One can suppose that it just might be possible for a bullet glancing off of a rock with a high iron content might cause a spark, but it would be far more credible to learn that such fires, if they were started by shooters at all, were the handiwork of morons shooting at televisions, computers or half-empty propane canisters. One might assign some credibility to the supposition that one of these nimrods was foolish enough to go target shooting in a dry forest with tracer rounds.
Some suggest a far more likely scenario is that some shooter dropped a cigarette.
Nevertheless, some are doubtful of the state’s official findings. Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council (USSC), isn’t ruling out shooting as causes for the fires, but pointed out that recreational activities like camping carry fire risks as well.—Salt Lake Tribune
A few weeks ago, this writer and a pal went hunting for spring turkeys over by Bethel Ridge in Yakima County and found where some idiots had shot up an old computer and an automobile battery and left their mess. There was no fire, however.
UPDATE: No sooner was this column posted than did we hear from Andy Walgamott, editor at Northwest Sportsman magazine in Seattle, who turned us on to this report:
"Officer Vance and Wildlife Area Manager Bob Dice responded to the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area after a fire was reported near the lower Grande Ronde River Bridge. Upon arrival, the fire was found to have burned approximately thirty acres. The fire had nearly burned itself out with just a few shrubs and trees still on fire. An AK-47 rifle was found in the parking lot along with three empty magazines and several hundred empty casings next to a set of peel-out marks in the parking lot. Remnants of Tannerite explosive were found near the parking lot in the burned vegetation. Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to set up the explosive in the dry grass and shoot at it to see the big boom. It appears when the fire started they peeled out of the area leaving a rifle and a lot of other evidence behind. The investigation continues...."
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Over on the GlockTalk forum, experienced shooters are taking these allegations not with a grain of salt, but the whole shaker. This writer has been interviewed twice over the past 24 hours by news agencies that picked up on the Utah fire story, which originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune.
With the worst yet to come where fire danger is concerned, even here in Washington and neighboring Oregon, it might be prudent for recreational shooters to stock up on non-flammable targets. Plastic bottles or balloons filled with water, clay targets, paper milk jugs; these are all good targets, easily disposed of in the trash and they are not toxic.
As this column noted in early May, Northwest shooters face a “slob” problem because far too many people leave their trash in the forests. Clean up your messes and pick up other trash as well.
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