Jeffreythree..
I'm sure that the fire was very hot.... no doubt about that. From the pictures, I think the main burn was only about 30 minutes long, but incredibly hot.
I walked the entire place on Sunday... some areas are worse than others. I would guess that maybe 1% of the oak trees lost their bark, and have bare trunk showing. I'm sure those trees are going to die.
I did spot checks on the bark on alot of trees using a pocket knife.... maybe I'm just doing some wishful thinking, but the burn really looks like a surface burn, and does not go all the way through the bark. The twigs still bend... they are not dry and crispy... you have to twist them to get them to break off the tree. Only time will tell. I'll post pictures as the months go by on how the recovery is going.
David,
As far as the pond.... I've had two rains in the past week, for a combined total of about 3 inches. I don't think that I got any runoff into the pond. Water clarity still seems pretty good, and the fish are still feeding. I have noticed more FA on the pond this weekend.... last weekend there was none. I'm not sure if that could be a symptom of the fire or not.
Here's a pic of the FA....
Here's some typical tree trunks.... Hopefully the fire did not go past the bark...
