Think About it -- Quiet Confidence in the Fire

Resources Think About it -- Quiet Confidence in the Fire
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Faith Based Security NetworkFaith Based Security Network

Mar 29, 2025

Farm life is a culture often interrupted by giving (or getting) neighborly help.

Two years ago, I accidentally started a small prairie fire that burned some of our property and about 80 acres on neighbors. Other neighbors who serve on volunteer fire departments converged; we managed and beat the fire together.

So, when I got a call from a neighbor Sunday night about plans to conduct a prescribed burn on Monday, I changed my priorities to help.

Prescribed burns are a way of managing grasslands. The fire burns out invasive species (non-native trees, grasses and weeds) and replenishes native grasses. Most important, controlled burning protects against disastrous fires like the Anderson Creek Fire that hit this area hard in 2016.

This is the ideal time of year as the grass has not yet greened, temperatures are moderate, and the relative humidity runs higher.

I rode with the rancher who had called me. We were the 2^nd vehicle into the makeshift fire command center. When all arrived, there were 6 fire trucks (many ranchers own real fire trucks retired from service), several flatbed pick-ups with water tanks and pumps, farm tractors and ATV’s. About 25 people gathered to manage the fire.

Some were assigned to start fires: backfires on the downwind side and head fires at the upwind sides. Some were assigned to protect specific structures within the burn zone. The rest of us patrolled the perimeter looking for fires that jumped from the burn zone.

We burned just over 1,700 acres; nearly three miles long and a mile wide. We started at 09:00 AM and were going home by 3:00 PM. If anyone from a city would have rolled up on the scene, they may have thought the world was ending, reassured only by the confident demeanor and actions of the 25 volunteers working around the fire.

Think About it,

We were confident because,

1. There was a plan.
2. Everyone (but me) had experience managing big intentional fires.
3. Everyone was ready, willing and able.
  - - They had specific positions
    - They had the mental mindset
    - They were trained & equipped.

It was no big deal.

That is how managing any hazard should be. Quiet confidence calms panic. Even for those helping who’ve never done it before.

Manage the fires in your life (ministry or business) with quiet confidence.

“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” [i]

[i] Isaiah 30:15 (c) (NKJV)

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