Part of the Irvine Prairie located at 1174 55th Street north of Dysart burns last Thursday afternoon while Tallgrass Prairie Center volunteers watch. Fire advanced slowly across the prairie parcel due to a combination of challenging wind conditions, spotty fuel load, and slightly wet ground. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

IRVINE PRAIRIE – Sometimes it takes more than a spark.

Last Thursday, three plantings in the southeastern corner of Irvine Prairie located north of Dysart were subjected to a slower-than-usual prescribed burn thanks to a combination of challenging wind conditions, spotty fuel load, and slightly wet ground.

The burn was originally scheduled to begin around 1 p.m. but was delayed by over an hour due to sustained north-northwestern winds clocking in above 20 mph; the prairie’s own weather station recorded the highest wind gust that day at just under 30 mph.

Right before 2 p.m., staff and volunteers with the University of Northern Iowa’s (UNI) Tallgrass Prairie Center (TPC) – which manages Irvine Prairie for the UNI Foundation – gathered out of the wind and cold in one of Cathy Irvine’s barns to go over the delayed burn plan in hopes conditions would soon meet prescription.

Burn boss and TPC research and restoration program manager Justin Meissen explained to the group that they would be working to burn three plantings located on the south side of 55th Street across from Cathy Irvine’s farmstead.

Burn boss Justin Meissen – research and restoration program manager for UNI’s Tallgrass Prairie Center – uses a drip torch as part of a prescribed burn at Irvine Prairie north of Dysart last Thursday afternoon. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“There’s a lot of wind today,” Meissen said plainly. “We’re going to ignite at the base – farthest downwind that we can start. We’ll slowly creep towards the north into the wind.”

Meissen further explained that sustained winds can be helpful for a prescribed burn as long as they don’t rise above 20 mph.

“We are right at the cusp of wind max.”

The 40 degree air temperature was also right at the lower threshold, Meissen added, while the day’s humidity – hovering in the 60s – was below the 70% maximum.

“We have conditions that are pretty cold and wet so that means the fire will be less likely to jump, move quickly except for when it’s going downwind.”

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Meissen anticipated a slow fire that afternoon which would be the crew’s “primary tool” for control.

Around 2:30 p.m. and with winds slightly decreased, the TPC’s two burn teams began attempting to light a backfire along the south boundary.

Of the three parcels in the planned 30-acre burn area, the parcel furthest to the west contained the most fuels – and most resembled a typical tallgrass prairie – while the other two smaller parcels were spotty with low growth.

Over the course of an hour, burn crews worked to follow Meissen’s plan but eventually gave up on the eastern two parcels and moved to focus on the larger parcel which had been planted in the spring of 2021.

“Fuel load was still pretty low, and the fire was a bit patchy, but that can be a good thing for all the insects that overwinter in the litter and standing dead material,” TPC Director Laura Jackson told the newspaper in an email the next day. “We did not try to burn the far [east] side – we will wait until there is enough fuel to carry the fire. Hopefully the drought will end and we will get some growth up there!”

Staff and volunteers with the Tallgrass Prairie Center including Director Laura Jackson, second from right, and program manager Andy Olson, far right, work to keep one of two plank fires lit during a prescribed burn at Irvine Prairie north of Dysart last Thursday afternoon. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

By lighting flank fires along the larger parcel’s two sides from south to north, crew members were able to slowly increase the black area as well as the air temperature in the immediate vicinity which was a welcome change for this reporter who had been doing her best to stay warm in the desolate winds that day.

In the words of Cathy Irvine’s much-beloved author Willa Cather, air and earth (at last!) “curiously mated and mingled” by way of the wall of orange fire licking up along the east and west boundaries. A small group of interested locals watching the proceedings from warm vehicles parked on the north side of 55th Street – including Cathy herself – seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the fire.

Many sparks had finally culminated in a prairie fire well worth such a (windy) wait.

To find the Irvine Prairie which is open to the public, navigate to 1174 55th Street, Dysart. Park on the south side of the road in the grass, near the stone marker. A portable bathroom facility is available from April through October.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Staff and volunteers with the University of Northern Iowa’s Tallgrass Prairie Center pictured last Thursday afternoon during a prescribed burn at Irvine Prairie which is located north of Dysart at 1174 55th Street in Benton County. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER