Sadly, I must report that one of our local volunteer firemen, in a town I lived in for about five years, Lake Luzerne, was severely burned in a brush fire. All because the man who started the fire, was too cheap and/or lazy to bag or mulch his dry leaves, and instead, illegally (there's a burning ban in place to to severely dry conditions) burn his leaves instead. Becuse of the place he lives--East River Drive--and area of mostly posh homes, the man probably wasn't too poor to afford the proper leaf bags.

He was just, to put it bluntly, cheap and/or lazy. The result was a tragedy, that shouldn't have happened. The notice about the fire ban, by the way, would be publicly posted on the main highway through town, in at least one--if not two, places. It likely was also posted in the local weekly newspaper.

The fire burned over more than 7 acres in steep, wild terrain covered with a carpet of dry leaves, brush and dead branches...the result of one man's carelessness, was a confliguration that this area seldom sees--in fact, the burn was more like what one would see in California, Wyoming and other western states, rather than the Adirondacks--where most fires actually burn belowground, in the root system, due to semi-wet conditions.

Please--if it's dry where you are, this spring, be careful--I've only one second-degree burn myself, but I can attest to you that it HURTS.