1
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010 LOCAL THE ITEM A3 40 W. Wesmark Blvd. THURSDAY, DEC. 2 • 6:00PM -9:30 PM • 40 W. WESMARK BLVD. LOCATION ONLY THE HUNT IS ON... Visit us on Facebook FOR THE BEST DEALS! DOORS OPEN AT 6:00PM OVERFLOW PARKING MANLY MAN FOOD LIVE BLUE GRASS MUSIC PRIZE DRAWING EVERY 30 MIN GRAND PRIZE $500 (VALUE) Select Items Sold Select Items Sold BELOW COST! BELOW COST! AS LOW AS AS LOW AS $ $ 5 5 00 00 All Ocean Kayaks All Ocean Kayaks AT COST! AT COST! ALL OTHERS 10% OFF A ALL ALL 20% OFF STOREWIDE Some exclusions apply M 10% OFF GUNS, GUNS, SAFES & SAFES & AMMO! AMMO! GENESIS EP310 SIS EP310 NESIS EP 3 3 0 P31 E I E N N E GENESIS EP310 $100 OFF $100 OFF SPIRIT E210 0 0 PIRIT P SPIRIT E210 10 RIT E2 IR P SPIRIT E210 $50 OFF $50 OFF N PERFORMER PERFO R E E ERFORM PERFORMER $50 OFF LP/CHARCOAL LP/CHARCOAL BY R. DARREN PRICE [email protected] WEDGEFIELD — Just off SC 261 near Wedge- field, drivers could see it: men in yellow fire suits sharing a smoke near a tract of scorched earth. The skies are blue, and a light breeze pushes the breeze away from the route that cuts Man- chester State Forest in half from Paxville to US 378. The light, smoky haze this recent Friday makes it look like a small wildfire. The four men started it — it’s their job. “People see the smoke and say ‘oh my god,’” said Charlie Scruggs, one of the men. “People get in panic mode and think the forest is burning down.” Scruggs, James Doug- las, Tommy Kelley and Clay Howard, all park rangers, work to make sure burning down the forest doesn’t happen. Throughout the year, they schedule controlled burns in different areas of the forest for everything from preventing a five- alarm wildfire to clearing the forest floor to plant- ing new foliage. Forest director Harvey Belser said burning parts of the area is a vital part of the forest’s operation. “It’s a normal part of what we do at the forest,” he said. “It’s a lot of sci- ence and art to it.” Right now, Belser said the foresters are in the process of burning grass- lands to plant longleaf pine, a tree native to the Carolinas, to replace slash pine, a Gulf Coast species susceptible to disease, wind and ice breakage. And, according to state Department of Natural Resources, lon- gleaf pine thrives in a fresh-burned forest floor. The trees planted will one day be chopped down and sold — but Belser said it was an im- portant step nonetheless. “It’s critical these plants are planted to the correct depth,” Belser said. So, Scruggs and the other firefighters got to work getting things ready. Controlled burns are more science than pyro- technics, said Douglas. After spraying an area with herbicide six weeks before the burn, the for- est has to get a fire per- mit and wait for a day when the wind and hu- midity are not too high. Then the group figures out what type of fire they plan to light based on the plants and brush in a burn area, which they call “fuel.” For a grass- land like the one burned Nov. 19, they light a fire at one end of the tract and let a light breeze blow the fire to the other end. For that kind of burn, Douglas said the entire area will be com- pletely burned after just a few hours, and they can start planting as soon as the ground cools off. “We’ll probably plant this field in the next cou- ple of weeks,” he said of the singed grassland. Douglas and Scruggs said they watch the fire for a couple hours to make sure things don’t go awry, but sometimes small changes in weather conditions can cause trouble. During a recent underbrush burn, wind threw a thick cloud onto SC 261. The rangers had to get a local fire station to help, and Scruggs got wet trying to keep burning stumps from spitting fire close to the road. “This thing definitely isn’t waterproof,” he said of his flame-retardant suit. But, Scruggs said the group usually has a good track record of making sure things don’t get out of hand. “You can’t let it get too wild,” he said. “We want these burns to stay as clean as possible.” Douglas said it’s taken a lot of time and classes to learn how to keep fires under control. “We’ve had to go through all kinds of train- ing,” he said. “We even had a meteorologist come in and talk to us for three days about weather.” But Douglas, who has been doing burns for about four years, said getting to do the burns is worth the class time. “It’s definitely one of the better parts of the job,” he said. “You get to have a little fun.” But it’s still a job, Scruggs said. His soot- smeared yellow suit and the smoke-filled air prob- ably say it best. “It’s a dirty, nasty job,” he said. “Ain’t anything glamorous about it.” Reach R. Darren Price at (803) 435-8511. Starting fires is part of park rangers’ jobs R. DARREN PRICE / THE ITEM James Douglas lights up a field using a mixture of diesel and unleaded gasoline. The fuel squirts out of a flamethrower on the back of his ATV and tosses fireballs on the ground. As Manchester State Forest’s firefighers, Tommy Kelley, Clay Howard, James Douglas and Charlie Scruggs spend more time lighting blazes than putting them out. Big T Jewelers 520 West Boyce Street • Manning, SC 29102 (803) 435-8094 Established 1969 Per Penny Weight 10k $ 21.00 14k $ 31.00 18k $ 39.00 Per Gram 10k $ 12.50 14k $ 18.50 18k $ 24.00 “We buy Silver Coins & Sterling also” “We buy Silver Coins & Sterling also” 1 oz. Gold Eagle Coin $ 1100 00 All prices above based on gold market price at $1200.00 per ounce. Check Out Our Prices! It will be the highest paid price! Multi Therapeutic Approach HLCC combines unique, • superior hair loss products with the best hair loss lasers for maximum results 93% increase in hair • among study participants using lasers Therapist works under • physician supervision Call Now To Make An Appointment for Consultation Only Business in the Area to Provide These Services BEFORE BEFORE AFTER AFTER Shadae Hair Cuts & Designs Laser Hair Loss Control Clinic 1275A Peach Orchard Rd • Sumter, SC 803-494-9812 • www.shadaehlcc.com Julia Colclough Trained & Certified Laser Therapist photos from www.hlcconline.com Morris Animal Clinic Dr. Wayne Morris, DVM (803) 435-8001 2093Alex Harvin Hwy. •Manning, SC For those Pet Lovers on your list - Gift Certificates to make giving easier.
