Wild fires in California

[boeingb13]

My dept got word that there is a good possibility there will be 100 engines with crews being taken from Florida and New York and sent to California. The trucks will go via train, the crews via airplane.

How many more years is it going to be that California is loosing hundreds of thousands of acres to wildfires. And unless i'm mistaken it gets worse every year. And the one constant I do not hear, is what is being done in the winter months to prepare for the coming fire season, other than cutting fire trails and having prescribed burns.

Are there other preplans out there that any of you know of, as far as preparation?

[Just Plain Ruff]

until you have people who take responsibility to clear their land and help mitigate the damage to their property you will still have loss like this.

Take the eroding seashore, people build as close to the water as possible yet get all upset when the ocean comes and takes their house away.

if you build in a floodzone, an active floodzone then you have no right to complain that your house was swept away by a flood!!!!

Earthquakes you can't do anything about, hurricanes are too big, tornadoes are too hit and miss but floods or eroding beaches you can do something about - dont build there.

But until the federal government stops helping these people re-build with financial assistance they will keep rebuilding.

But to get back on track, Boe, I hope if you go that you play safe and play nice in the sandbox wiht your fellows on the left coast. I also hope you come home safely too.

[spenac]

What happens is do gooders stop controlled burns and land clean up. Throw that in with so many wanting to live in nature you have disaster. Another problem is lightening fires used to burn away dead trees, grass, etc but now people immediately stop fires. This leads to tons of debris to burn when it does get out of hand.

Where I'm at we have large fires but most times it only burns grass and trees. Had a 98000 acre fire. Then had a 50000 acre fire I helped with this year. But here most home owners and ranchers fix the land around the house to allow it to be defensible.

[letmesleep]

what are you complaining about? A free, all inclusive trip to "SUNNY CALIFORNIA"? stop your bitching!

sorry couldn't resist, just joking, but seriously be safe if your on your way!

[firedoc5]

Use to be these fires took care of unhealthy parts of the forests, i.e. dead brush, over growth, etc. It was sort of like natural selection. But now with the population growing in so many of these areas they are just getting in the way of what nature has always done. Like it was stated earlier, if you build there, expect these things. If people want to protect their property they need to remove all that would be burned naturally themselves. It's a lot of hard work to do so. But they can't be complacent about and let it build up and accumulate.

I myself would rather fight a structure fire than a grass/woods/forest fire any day.

[JCorr05]

ok i don't post that much in here. but this is what i have to say. but who gives you the right to bitch and complain when you don't even live in the state. these fires are not only burning houses down but is also effecting the whole state! because of our wind patters the smoke from both so cal and norcal are covering the whole state in smoke. the closet fire to me is in big sir. which is about 100 miles south. and every day i look towards the hills and i cant see them because of the smoke. i agree that the people need to take care of there land and make sure that it is ready for the up coming season. but if you look at where the fires are they are in the rough terrain. steep mountain sides that are hard to get on by foot and impossible to get a rig down there. and also where these fires are burning are in an area which hasn't had a fire in a long time. we have lost 1000 year old redwoods. that we will never get back. the majority of these fires are do to lighting not people. ruff, you have a good point, and i totally agree with your point. but a lot of these people up in the northern part of the state don't have the money or the resources to clear land. half the stations up there are all volly. because half the people up there are either on section 8 or live pay check to pay check or drug dealers and don't have the education like some of us. they are doing all they can to help. but we can only do so much with the equipment and resources we have. theres my 2 cents from NORCAL.

[spenac]

Jcorr it costs nothing to go clear a few feet of dead brush each day. I lived in a very remote rural area. I could not hire people, but I could go drag dead tree limbs and brush away and just about daily I spent a few minutes time maintaining my acreage . I hate that homes are lost. I hate that people suffer. My family still lives in rural area, we keep it clear but also accept the risk that comes with it. My family pays high insurance because of the risk, but we want it rebuilt but do not expect tax payers to foot the bill for us. I do have the right to gripe about my tax dollars going to save or rebuild homes that should not have been built where they are or not properly maintained to avoid disaster. I should not have to pay for peoples bad choices.

[EMT Foose]

Naturally occurring wildfires have always, and will always happen. You can't beat mother nature.

I realize this, and have every important document and irreplaceable personal item as well as an external frame backpack loaded with supplies ready to go at a moments notice. My neighborhood has had close calls 3 times in the past 5 years. Last year the fires burned through our backyards.

I appreciate what firefighters do (especially the crazy pilots!!), however I don't agree with anything other than attempting to protect structures in the path of wildfires. Let the brush burn, or it will just be worse next time.

Edit:

...and many people don't do enough brush clearance. IMO, they have no right to complain when their house burns down due to overabundance of combustibles right up against the structure.

[AnthonyM83]

My dept got word that there is a good possibility there will be 100 engines with crews being taken from Florida and New York and sent to California.

Geeesh . . .