How many houses had to burn down before the Idiots in CA decided to change the rules and allow the military?

Question

to fly the airplanes and copters with out the Forrestry spotter?
Who is to blame?

Answer 1

Two problems exist both caused by the California state government and one to a lesser extent the federal. The state put the requirement on that all aircraft had to have state forestry personnel aboard to act as spotters and when asked to do the job the military has to go by the rules the state laid out. The problem with clearing underbrush is not a money issue; it as done for years by the forestry departments by controlled fires (small fires to burn it out and clear it) until the environmentalist started suing because it was "hurting the forest" and they were forced to stop doing it; common sense and good procedures were overcome by politics, environmental extremist and the EPA. The way nature clears underbrush is fire, you let it grown for years because you don't control it and extinguish the natural fires then you get really big fires like we have now. Controlled burns to clear the underbrush is a good way to work wit nature and if you don't think that is right I could make the point that putting out forest fires before they burn out naturally is also interfering with nature.

Answer 2

The problem with the idea of clearing the brush is that what else can be planted there? This is after all, a semi-arid climate and not many plants are adapted to living there. Also, when one of these Santa Ana winds comes blowing in, wind speeds can be in excess of 60 miles an hour. Since it is so dry, just about anything can set off a brush fire. It could be a tossed cigarette, construction work, car exhaust, or downed power lines. Those winds are capable of carrying embers as far as five miles downwind so the hills would literally have to be stripped bare to be truly safe. Then you have the very real risk of mudslides when the rains return. The problem is that people are building increasingly in outlying areas and that does increase their risk of getting their homes burned down when one of these fires occur. Brush fires have always been a problem in Southern California. The reason they didn't do so much damage in the past was because they tended to occur in areas that didn't have large populations back then. Oh sure, some farms or homes got burned down but you didn't have the problem with thousands of people being driven out of their homes. For those of us who lived in Southern California before the 1980s, the main effects of brush fires were a lot of haze and poor air quality.

Answer 3

The blame lies with the govt who won't put into the budget to allow for reduction of the brush and dead wood in these areas. I used to live in the SanBdo area (and had friends in the Crestline area), and you can't get the govt to clear the dead stuff! THAT's the problem! Some of this (the intensity) may have been preventive. The insurance agencies that are going to have to pay out on these claims are going to help to push laws to get the brush/dead wood clearing laws changed! That includes the national forest areas and private property. Heck, if I still lived out there, I'd build a moat around my house, with a hand-ran pump for such a problem like this!

Answer 4

It's not that the government didn't want to clear away the underbrush. The residents didn't want the govt. to burn the brush safely because it would cause some smoke and they would get ash in their pools.