The Problem with SoCal

Breaking News: Station fire arson; homicide investigation underway

“No-Good” for “Lifestyle” and fires cost too much to “fight!”

A [Neanderthal ] took up residence [in SoCal], dug a cellar [deep inside the forest] and built a log house on top of it; paved up large tracts of the forest and mountainside and bought two cars. After 20 years he decided SoCal was no good for living, for most of his forest had gone, the water table had dropped by 8 yards and he didn’t have enough water to spare the fish [and the cost of ‘fighting’ the fires had become unaffordable.] —Adapted from My Life, My Trees, by Richard St. Barbe Baker [Quoted by EDRO]

Station Fire 38% Contained

This UPDATE was posted on September 3, 2009 at 5:32 PM PDT (September 4, 2009 at 00:32 UTC)

Some 4,735 fire crew have contained about 38 % of the Station Fire, estimated at 144,743 acres.

Five other fires are still burning in SoCal:

• Oak Glen 3 (San Bernardino Unit, Cal Fire): 1,159 acres at 75 percent contained. This fire is four miles north of San Bernardino. Minimal fire activity was reported.
• Morris (Angeles National Forest): 2,168 acres at 95 percent contained. This fire is five miles north of Azusa.
• Big Meadow (Yosemite National Park): 6,283 acres at 60 percent contained. This fire is two miles northeast of El Portal. Structures remain threatened and roads are closed. Precipitation fell on the fire yesterday.
• Pendleton (San Bernardino Unit, Cal Fire): 860 acres at 95 percent contained. This fire is burning two miles east of Yucaipa. Fire activity was minimal.
• Red Rock (Klamath National Forest): 1,382 acres at 90 percent contained. This fire is 15 miles west of Fort Jones. Minimal fire activity was reported.

Year-to-date statistics:
Fires: 65,483; Acres: 5,459,428

10-year average
Fires: 62,862;  Acres: 5,754,861

Cost of fighting “wildfires?”
(CALFIRE Budget)

1998/9:  $44 million
2008/9: Just under $1.7 billion
2009/10: $2.0 billion (?)
A rise of  more than 45 folds!

• Fire industry worth billions of dollars
• Under Bush’s watch, decay of public firefighting has spawned billion dollar private industry

Problem with SoCal:
“No-Good” for “Lifestyle” and fires cost too much to “fight!”

SoCal Fires: “Nothing personal; it’s just business, folks!”

External Links:

• Fire industry worth billions of dollars
• Under Bush’s watch, decay of public firefighting has spawned billion dollar private industry

• Fighting wildfires in a cash-strapped state

Related FEWW Link:

• Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product [Links to Satellite Images]
• Our Forecast for 2009 California Fires
  
• Thought for the Day: The Car Salesman & SoCal Fires
• Tell Schwarzenegger Damage from Fires Is Preventable!
• Shock and Awe Southland Fires Take No Prisoners
• California Fires: Not Hard to Understand!
• The War on Wildfire
• Links to FEWW SoCal Fires Entries