We've been scouting out the wooded area behind the Flanders Fire Department, over the past several weekends. Follow us by studying the pictures below.
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| Found A Pond |
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| Such a beautiful pond and we had to pull this garbage out of it. Will someone clean it up? |
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| Firefighters find this terrain dangerous when fighting fires, and potentially explosive, given the right conditions. |
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| Waded Thru Waist High Huckleberry To Reach Mountain Laural - photo inspired by Ray. |
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| Walked A Trail Probably Maintained by illegal ATV and Dirt Bikers |
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| ATV and Dirt Bikers Cut Trails Illegally, what about other more positive uses? |
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| Considering how hard it is to fight wildfires near homes (top right), should there be an access road by this house? |
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| Found more illegal ATV & Dirt Bike Use, directly behind Firehouse. How can this be ecologically restored? |
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| Inspired By Ray - photocredit: Kenny Spadafora |
What's Next
- Involve the Long Island Pine Barrens Protected Lands Council and Wildland Fire Task Force, local legislators, and Suffolk County Parks in managing the Flanders Critical Resource Area.
- Update current maps of the trails. Mark up field conditions, as is being done in Manorville Hills, realizing that the area is not just behind the Flanders Fire house, but is a much larger area.
- Understand and validate FD safety concerns for firefighters and civilians. Find funding sources.
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| We Walked Around This Area (B=Flanders FD), but area extends into a much larger region. |
It's a wonderful looking forest. Who owns the land?
ReplyDeleteThe land looks like it can be saved with a little restoration & more importantly, some education of the locals & enforcement. Is it in the core? Is it public or private? Lee
ReplyDeleteSuffolk County Parks is the public lands manager. In the Pine Barrens Core.
ReplyDeleteI live on Brookhaven Ave(not too far from the Firehouse) and a neighbor and I recently walked back into the woods looking for his daughters lost kitten and came across which appeared to be a "Tent city". This was quite far back into the wooded area behind the homes. This series of tents had a seperate tent as a bathroom, some where multiple tents put together with a living room, a fenced off "play area", barbeque pit, bamboo laterns, etc, etc. We had called Southampton PD, They broke it all down but upon another inspection a few weeks later the stuff is all still there. Seems people are living back in these wooded areas in our community. This is a major worry when fire is concerned.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. We also called it in -- to the appropriate agency contacts.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful land and great pictures too. It is why I love living here !!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mindy, for the long guided tour through the Flanders Critical Resource Area. What a wonderful place to spend a summer afternoon! I can see why there is a concern about fire with all the dead oaks, but I would hate to see grids cut through, marring the natural beauty. Personally, I would like to see our fire department trained in the latest methodology for dealing with such an event.
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