The Hadsell Creek Fire

[AlanLichty]

In 2020 there was a wildfire that started out in the small valley with Hadsell Creek just east of Mapleton Oregon. The fire burned right down to the Siuslaw River and was renamed to the Sweet Creek Milepost 2 fire after the roadway that follows the east side of the Siuslaw. The fire was mostly contained to the Hadsell Creek valley but one part of the fire crossed the ridge into Sweet Creek Valley before it was contained. Its hard to miss seeing the extent of the fire and how nerve-wracking this must have been for the folks living at the southern edge of Mapleton and along the Siuslaw just downstream from these images.

The two images below are from a visit in late October with the first being a 24mm view from just over OR26 as it enters Mapleton looking south and the second is a 2 panel panorama shot closer to the mouth of Hadsell Creek. As always the maples are the first to move in after a fire which is particularly notable with fall colors.

C&C always welcome.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice sprinkling of colors across the scene. The fire has changed the mix of foliage quite a bit.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice sprinkling of colors across the scene. The fire has changed the mix of foliage quite a bit.

Thanks Jameel - it's pretty easy to spot places in these forests where wildfires and clearcuts have left their mark. After I took these shots I drove up through the Sweet Creek valley and then over the pass leading towards the Smith River. There were several places along the backroads where the vegetation mix showed decades old fire scars but eventually the firs and spruce shade out the maples and take over.

 

[JimFox]

Interesting view, yeah you can see where the fire was. It doesn't jump out at you, but there is a difference once you look.

 

[AlanLichty]

Interesting view, yeah you can see where the fire was. It doesn't jump out at you, but there is a difference once you look.

Thanks Jim - untouched these hills would have looked like the old growth conifer forests near the headwaters of Smith Creek. The hills here were easy pickings for early settlers since they could just float the logs to the mills or Florence. The stuff that burned consisted of planted stands of firs all the same age/height and easy pickings for a fire.