*** The Official Wildland FIRE Thread ***

Firebird

Gerry Lopez status
Jun 5, 2010
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My hats off the the guys on the line.

I'm wondering what the front line guys think of this? I think the guys on the line's opinion will be MUCH more informed than my own. I tend to write my elected reps when something I care about comes up.



Dude, I don't know where to start with this one, and I'm so tired, I probably cant make a cogent point.
It's basically politics. Even though the Fed Firefighters are specialists, and fire is all they do, their official job title is Forestry Tech. So they can get away with paying them peanuts. But when there are fires, the Forest Service changes the definition of their job title (seems to be a theme lately) to Firefighter, so they get them coming and going.
The other issue with morale is that there doesn't appear to be a finish line or light at the end of the tunnel. Fires just keep getting worse and more numerous. When you sacrifice huge chunks of your life to try and make things better and then you realize things will continue to worsen despite everyone's best efforts, what's the point of your sacrifice? When I started in the fire service in the late 90s, fires like this were rare. Now they are expected.
Anyhow, it's still the best job in the world, even with it's short comings.

So, just came off the line this AM. Got to work up in some higher elevations in the sequoias yesterday and last night.
We are making progress. It was zero percent containment when we arrived. This AM it was at 46%.
Hopefully be home in time to get my oldest moved back up to Cal Poly in a week and a half.

Alright. I'm going to sleep.
 

Firebird

Gerry Lopez status
Jun 5, 2010
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Man...............lots of dead Sequoias.


Nothing old growth, but still big, beautiful trees..........burnt up and on the ground.
As we made our way into the division we were working on yesterday, we saw some smoke way off in an area where the fire had burned around. We knew there was a church camp in that valley but it had made it through. Well, some embers had blown in from another part of the fire and touched this area off. So we made our way into the area and I'll admit, I was a little concerned about our safety. We made some good contingency plans and got to work.
We worked until about dinner time and had a pretty good handle on it. We stopped to eat the sack lunches that the state provides and monitored the area for re-ignition. Spent the night in there, and by morning it was pretty well out. We turned it over to another strike team of engines starting their 24 hour sh!t, and we headed to fire camp for food and rest.
Looks like we could end up getting reassigned to the McKinney Fire up on the Klamath tomorrow. Beautiful country up there too.
I heard there's been waves and the fish are biting. I'll get my share when these fires settle.
 

20W-50 and blood

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Feb 4, 2004
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Man...............lots of dead Sequoias.


Nothing old growth, but still big, beautiful trees..........burnt up and on the ground.
As we made our way into the division we were working on yesterday, we saw some smoke way off in an area where the fire had burned around. We knew there was a church camp in that valley but it had made it through. Well, some embers had blown in from another part of the fire and touched this area off. So we made our way into the area and I'll admit, I was a little concerned about our safety. We made some good contingency plans and got to work.
We worked until about dinner time and had a pretty good handle on it. We stopped to eat the sack lunches that the state provides and monitored the area for re-ignition. Spent the night in there, and by morning it was pretty well out. We turned it over to another strike team of engines starting their 24 hour sh!t, and we headed to fire camp for food and rest.
Looks like we could end up getting reassigned to the McKinney Fire up on the Klamath tomorrow. Beautiful country up there too.
I heard there's been waves and the fish are biting. I'll get my share when these fires settle.
mad respect, carnal. mad respect.
 

Firebird

Gerry Lopez status
Jun 5, 2010
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Headed to the McKinney Fire.
Probably wont have signal way deep in the Klamath Natl Forest, but I'll report back when I re-emerge.
 

Subway

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Just read that the McKinney is now the biggest in the state, and 0% contained. Stay safe you brave bad-asses
 

r32

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Apr 1, 2005
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Just read that the McKinney is now the biggest in the state, and 0% contained. Stay safe you brave bad-asses
Asked my mom if she ever recalls this many fires in the 80s or 90s and she said no way.

Every goddamn summer now. Expect a big ass fire, bad air quality, and all the other bullshit that comes with it. Used be known for earthquakes and now we'll be known as the fire state.
 

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
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Asked my mom if she ever recalls this many fires in the 80s or 90s and she said no way.

Every goddamn summer now. Expect a big ass fire, bad air quality, and all the other bullshit that comes with it. Used be known for earthquakes and now we'll be known as the fire state.
Climate change (hotter and drier) and 100 years of misguided fire supression.
 

Subway

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"Fire State" has a cool ring to it, other than the fact that it comes with, well, actual fires
 

One-Off

Tom Curren status
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Hard for me to take any TedX seriously after seeing JAH on stage. :nana:
I would judge each presenter individually. But the message from the forestry experts is always the same. 100 years of fire supression was bad. We need forest restoration, thinning and prescirbed burns (and to let natural, non catastrophic fires burn). But the budget is not there.

There is a bill in Congress right now introduced by Kevin McCarthy called "Save Our Sequoias" but environmental groups are almost unanimously opposed to what they call a "deceptively titled" "trojan horse." They say it lifts all oversight once an emergency is declared.


Look at the signatories of this letter. Could they all be wrong?

 
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PRCD

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I would judge each presenter individually. But the message from the forestry experts is always the same. 100 years of fire supression was bad. We need forest restoration, thinning and prescirbed burns (and to let natural, non catastrophic fires burn). But the budget is not there.

There is a bill in Congress right now introduced by Kevin McCarthy called "Save Our Sequoias" but environmental groups are almost unanimously opposed to what they call a "deceptively titled" "trojan horse." They say it lifts all oversight once an emergency is declared.
Environmental groups do not care about the environment - they are just misanthropes and notice how they obstruct anything from being done. Really, they're just there to sue and add regulations until everyone gives up and leaves. Even this will not solve environmental problems in the short-term because the landscape has been so altered in the past 200 years that it takes people to fix it.
 

Aruka

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Feb 23, 2010
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I would judge each presenter individually. But the message from the forestry experts is always the same. 100 years of fire supression was bad. We need forest restoration, thinning and prescirbed burns (and to let natural, non catastrophic fires burn). But the budget is not there.

There is a bill in Congress right now introduced by Kevin McCarthy called "Save Our Sequoias" but environmental groups are almost unanimously opposed to what they call a "deceptively titled" "trojan horse." They say it lifts all oversight once an emergency is declared.
Because it does.

This is basically just a loophole for timber companies to log without having to go through all of the red tape which is why it's supported by basically every timber company and other financially interested parties.

It allots what, 10 million dollars to "save the sequoias"? That's so laughably shy of the amount needed to address a problem of this scale.

I agree that we need to better manage our forests and I'm not opposed to thinning, prescribed burns, etc. but I don't think that creating emergency loopholes that will 100% be abused is the solution. The problem isn't red tape, it's money.

Unlike PRCD I think some environmental groups actually do care about the environment. Without them and the "red tape" like the ESA, NEPA, etc. we wouldn't even be having this conversation because the Sequoia's would have all been cut down decades ago.
 
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PRCD

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Because it does.

This is basically just a loophole for timber companies to log without having to go through all of the red tape which is why it's supported by basically every timber company and other financially interested parties.

It allots what, 10 million dollars to "save the sequoias"? That's so laughably shy of the amount needed to address a problem of this scale.

I agree that we need to better manage our forests and I'm not opposed to thinning, prescribed burns, etc. but I don't think that creating emergency loopholes that will 100% be abused is the solution. The problem isn't red tape, it's money.

Unlike PRCD I think some environmental groups actually do care about the environment. Without them and the "red tape" like the ESA, NEPA, etc. we wouldn't even be having this conversation because the Sequoia's would have all been cut down decades ago.
Environmental groups are a jobs program for bugmen who drive expensive Teslas and late model 4Runners. This isn't 60 years ago - logging has changed a ton and lumber is viewed as a renewable resource. Pines and especially Sequioas grow crazy fast and thick tree stands have to be thinned to benefit the forest and deer.

My friend tried to log his hunting property and it was going to be $100k in permits and erosion mitigation before they even got started. That area burned a couple of years ago. It's a rainforest.
 
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