With the droughts raging on in many states and the severe weather we have had in CA and NV the brush has grown thick indeed. All these factors make for a pretty scary and challenging fire season. The boys are certainly going to earn their salaries this year. Hopefully they will contain and put them out quickly. But as water supplies draw tight, there could also be issues with running out of water in some places. Why are fires becoming such a huge issue?
As Sierra Club Member block the clearing of brush on the ground they are adding to the fire damage potential later and thus we see another huge debate in the minds of the people over the sound and fury of all ages and cultures. The infighting is actually preventing the utopia we are all supposedly seeking. As you know many of these Sierra Club members live in the very same hills and are the first to have nature take everything they own from them, so of course they want the fires out too. Many times Sierra Club member hikers inadvertently set the fires when they disobey laws about campfires.
When the year has been dry and hot, there is always extreme fire risk as has been the case in the Western States and those regions not bordering the Pacific Ocean, this year we are on the back side, the down hill slide of the solar maximum cycle, but we are still not out of the woods yet. Meanwhile excessive rains in CA caused an abundance of sagebrush growth which will become dry come summer. At risk again in 2005 are all those other states where droughts have occurred and are way under rainfall averages.
Fires; the larger ones, once they get going have a life of their own, you cannot get men to lay hoses that fast, you must attack from the air. Just like the terrorists. Burn them out. Most California forest fires are contained quickly and within 10 acres, you generally never hear about them unless you are in that county and happen to read the newspaper the next day. Now the percentage of people who find out about the fires and those that make the news are greater due to satellite viewing, but the ones that get away, the big ones, whew baby, man do they move fast. They are dangerous and the kill. Fire fighters need all the resources and tools available to protect us. Something to think on; Thanks for listening.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/