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Had an interesting situation on Big Bo..

Griggs

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AZ
Not entirely sure where to post this...

Went scouting unit 10 (big bo ranch, specifically) this weekend with a buddy of mine. It was the opening weekend, and near as we could tell we were close to the first ones there for scouting, or at least very near to the first. Drove to check out a couple spots for familiarization, and coming around a bend in the road we saw what we thought was a huge bonfire next to the ranch road. As we got closer we saw it was a juniper on fire.

So my buddy pulled over his vehicle and I pulled mine over, as a white pickup had three kids run into it from across the road, after having just set another fire there. There were now three fires total on both sides of the road.

My buddy and I were unsure if it was some weird controlled burn at night. After a couple seconds we used what we could, a fire extinguisher and some water. The truck put its brake lights on and came to a complete stop about 40 yards from us. Then continued driving and took off down he road.

We figured if it was some sort of controlled burn that they would have asked us to stop putting it out, and we didn’t think a mid 30s guy with three kids would be setting them... and then leave them unattended.

Having no cell reception we had to drive down the road to high ground to make a call. We spotted three more fires about another half mile down the road. Contacted game and fish as well as sheriffs office. No ranch contact info in our possession. Gave them all the info and the vehicle and people descriptions.

Drove along seeing if we could find any other burns to call in as we had no way of putting them out at this point.

The next morning by the time we got back the burns were out, and dug around, and marked with “second spot” “fourth spot” etc. we thought this all to be extremely odd, any ideas as to what might have transpired, so we might better understand? We called it in as we thought it was arson.

Crappy cellphone pics.

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Dang, that seems like arson from what you describe. Human-caused fires would be a good reason for the Navajo Nation to close that big place from public hunting.
 
Dang, that seems like arson from what you describe. Human-caused fires would be a good reason for the Navajo Nation to close that big place from public hunting.

That’s sort of what my buddy and I were afraid of It’s so dry it’s like a tinderbox in there now, and we thought it was either a disgruntled fired ranch hand, or some crazy guy, or just kids being pyros. But we didn’t think you would light so many large fires and then leave them unattended at night for a controlled burn.

But with the ranch already being on thin ice for public access we didn’t want to firstly be blamed for it since we were in the area and the first group of people there. Secondly we didn’t want the ranch to turn around and shut it down figuring “see? The day we open back up to these hunters they start a forest fire, no more hunting”

ETA pic from the following morning.

View attachment 1497741L4A3838 - Copy.JPG
 
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thats a batch of crap, There is no real good reason to just start fires for the hell of it. Controlled burns are one thing. But there is no way that was a controlled burn. Should of put your boot up there a$$. We have some fires going on up here around dillion, Not sure if it was man made or what tho. I havent looked into it yet honestly.
 
Certainly not a legitimate controlled burn, which would otherwise be called as arson. There's just no other good explanation that I can think of.
 
Sounds very much like arson. Unfortunately, the attention will be on the set fires and not on the good people that were there to help put them out. A good wildland fire investigator could help locate the responsible party and help get some punishment for them.
 
License plate?

The cover of darkness is just a little suspicious......three kids??? The entire story is completely odd. Who knows what the motivation was but it doesn't sound legit in anyway. The world is getting crazy and more nutty by the day.
 
A couple months ago here, out in the country there were numerous grass fires and a farmers big stack of bales set on fire. Over $70,000 worth of bailed hay burned down about 2 miles straight south of my house. It ended up being a man from town about 15 miles away that was "feeling ornery" that went to drive out here multiple time just to start fires. Not sure if hes been sentenced yet.39522.jpeg39520.jpeg
 

Explanation, he was feeling ornery... what you described above sounds like arson to me. What motivates people to seek destruction?
 
In reference to original story: "PETA Daddy" bringing the kids up right. Showing them how to shut things down. I would almost bet money on it.
 
Sad to say, but sometimes it is a volunteer firefighter that sets some of these fires. Mostly for financial reasons, but also for revenge or for the adrenaline and excitement. Could also be for the heroism of putting it out and saving the day. In the case of hay stacks, it is usually financial. Especially in a time where money is short and there are bills to pay. Hay stack fires usually burn a long time and can start other fires. That means more money.

In the case of the OP's situation, It is probably more about adrenaline and excitement unless there is some good vegetation in the area that they will profit from a long term wildland fire. Those are usually not volunteers because paid agencies usually get the bulk of those. Depending on the area. But it vary well can be.
 
My thoughts. Who knows for sure, but this is definitely an angle to consider

It certainly struck us as very odd. I've seen controlled burns, but have very little knowledge of the proper implementation, etc. But right from the beginning every bit of it was really strange, which made us think arson.

As for the plate, the truck was too far away from us by the time we got there to read the plate, through the dust, at night, ~40 yards away, unfortunately. As it stands we called in the description and all that at any rate. We weren't about to go chasing them down and possibly have things escalate very quickly, with no cell phone service, and my young son in the car. Alone? Possibly, but not with my young kid with us.

First time we had ever come across anything like that, and hopefully the last. At any rate, we were glad they were able to come in and get it put out. There were too many fires, and too large for us to put out by ourselves by the time we had arrived. I'll never understand some people.
 
Whatever the real cause, this is definitely malicious behavior of some kind. Pyros need to be taught a hard lesson.
 

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