SCRATCHGRAVEL HILLS — A few years ago, dead ponderosa pines covered the mountainsides of Scratchgravel Hills because of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that raced through the area.

Worried that the dead pines might provide fuel for a wildfire, some residents turned to various entities to remove the towering trees from their property.

That action just might have helped keep their land from significant damage from the Corral fire, which has burned 1,850 acres in the Scratchgravel Hills since Monday.