Comments on: Forest Fires Target People Who Hate America

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:01:49 +0000

Correction; I meant to say, only three Giant Redwood areas.

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:56:45 +0000

Long Term: As is common knowledge, at least to some, fires are not new to CA. What is new is the exponentially increasing challenge of fuel management. This is not just CA, but across most forest areas of North America, not the least of which is the Great Basin. No wonder NIFC is in Boise ID.

For over a hundred years, wildland fires have been put out as quickly as possible, as often as possible, more so as urbanization moves in. The result is a backlog of forest fuel buildup, for which the practical removal solutions are overwhelming. All you need today is either dry lightning or a spark from anything, and you get a really big poof. Then in a high wind, a fire can travel consistently faster than a bicycle, and many times faster at peak moments. It’s an angry animal.

So just keep in mind, though today’s fire news will be tomorrow’s faint memory; the really big under-addressed problem in the forest is exponentially increasing fuel buildup, which the last-minute-managers in government have yet to come to grips with. 100,000 acre fires used to be rare, now they’re commonplace. Increasingly longer dry seasons don’t help either. Talk to Al Gore about that one.

A long time ago, the forests could take care of themselves because they were so big. Now they’re so much smaller, management is required. Example, there are only exactly THREE remaining places in the entire world where Redwoods still live; one in China, the other two in CA. That is IT. Do we reallly want to forever lose trees older than Jesus? And BTW, don’t forget the Amazon Rain Forest.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:15:15 +0000

Surprised Bush didn’t say “no one could’ve foreseen the Santa Ana winds…blah, blah.”

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:13:52 +0000

Heckuva job Brownie is willing and able to give assistance too. No kidding, he’s advising some private company that makes its money handling disasters and they hired Brownie. You can’t make this stuff up.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:09:35 +0000

If al Qaeda started the wildfires, does that mean we’re winning GWOT?

By: Graybeard

Graybeard — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:28:26 +0000

Don’t overlook the damage the Bu$h neocons have done to our govt agencies. Govt lands (a third of Calif) are managed by the US Dept of Forestry, (US Dept of Agriculture); and the Bureau of Land Management (Dept of Interior). The rivalry, pettiness and duplication are legendary. The Calif Dept of Forestry, CalFire, cannot fight fires on federal land until given permission by the Feds.

CalFire, OTOH, is agile. The Guvernator signed an executive order to put the DC-10 supertanker on contract back in May, and it was done in time for the start of offical fire season on June 15, which will run until Nov. 15. However, Feb was the only month in the last 20 months without a wildfire.

By: Fred C. Dobbs

Fred C. Dobbs — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:03:58 +0000

Well, Pilgrim, the Las Vegas feed (LV stations have several crews down there) have said that the arsonist, aged 48, from Hesperia, CA, now in the Greybar Hotel, was spotted from a CHiP chopper…

By: Fred C. Dobbs

Fred C. Dobbs — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:58:16 +0000

Yet, OC is inexorably being re-demographed due to an increasing Hispanic (I hate that term!) population. I think one of their local Hitler Youth politicians was unseated by a young woman who has her stuff in order.

By: Montag

Montag — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:08:18 +0000

Yeah, and I wish we had a different President, but MY wish will come true before his.

By: Montag

Montag — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:03:33 +0000

Uh, hate to break this to you, but observations made from BLACK HELICOPTERS don’t count, any more than observations made from flying saucers. “Yes, I saw the Earthling clearly setting the fire with my own single eye. I remember saying to my Navigator, Subklarg Qwerxcsjoplumy–’Stinky, I don’t much like the looks of this.’ And he agreed, saying, ‘For the last time, stop calling me Stinky!’”

Fox News Headline: “ALIEN CONFIRMS AL QAEDA STARTED FIRES–WAIT JUST A FREAKIN’ MINUTE, WHAT ALIEN? SHOULDN’T THAT BE OUR LEAD STORY? OH, RIGHT, GOTTA WORK AN AL QAEDA ANGLE ON EVERYTHING, EH?

By: Montag

Montag — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:51:02 +0000

Remember when Republican U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (if memory serves) told some firefighters he met at an airport that they were doing a lousey job? Yeah, like he’d know from his vast experience of firefighting–NOT! Anyway he lost his seat to John Tester.

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:49:25 +0000

Bush says, "I wish we could control the wind". Well, can you imagine the disaster if he actually could? Since he can't, I guess we all have a reason to celebrate Thanksgiving next month.

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:02:44 +0000

…what was supposed to post…
thx Leslie, I’m in a high wind area, but I’ve been fortunate. (Sylmar-foothills, 20 minutes from magic mountain)

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:59:01 +0000

OOPS, WRONG COMMENT IN THE CLIPBOARD. SORRY.

By: ybnormal

ybnormal — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:58:12 +0000

And the hit squad speculation just keeps on coming. Here’s my two cents. Multiple possibilities.

1. at face value, a hit squad was on the way, and was subsequently discovered/thwarted

2. ‘chatter’ was released about hit squads with no one actually going anywhere, so as to f**k with secret service

3. a hit squad was dispatched as misdirection; like when someone starts a building fire to occupy civic response, while a bank robbery is executed