I was wrong to think the western wildfires were caused by bad forest management.
It's because of arson. By Greenies.
And that lady isn't the only one, lately. A whole plethora of people have been picked up for being firebugs. It's shocking they CAN catch these folks. How hard is it to NOT get away with lighting a fire. Go to a remote area with no one around, light and get away. And keep your mouth shut about it.
"Less than 10 per cent of wildland fires are caused by arson – the criminal act of deliberately setting a fire. The other 90 per cent are due to lightning strikes and other human activity such as equipment failures, vehicles or reckless behavior."
Keep this up and it will be 20%.
But Smokey Bear would be SO disappointed.
4 comments:
Lighting a fire is one thing, for a fire to expand rapidly and propagate like a, well, virus, a favorable environment is needed. While it's not my lane, I would say that bad forest management decisions are a major component.
As many as 90 percent of wildland fires in the United States are caused by people, according to the U.S. Department of Interior. Some human-caused fires result from campfires left unattended, the burning of debris, downed power lines, negligently discarded cigarettes and intentional acts of arson. The remaining 10 percent are started by lightning or lava.
As mentioned, it isn't that hard to cover tracks in arson...
Also, I'm suspicious of 'superstar' arson or accident investigators.
2,000 fires over 20 years is 100 a year, or 2 a week (more if you take out vacation, training, etc). From experience, I can tell you that isn't enough time to fully analyze and document any kind of accident, let alone a fire.
Also, there are LOTS of myths and poor training in police and fire investigations. They didn't mention any college degrees, which probably means he doesn't have any...
Jonathan - At this point, not having a degree in many subjects is a more likely sign of competence. Remember, it's the universities teaching people to not clear out deadwood and brush in order to save the greater northwestern spotted ferret-bat. Actual experts are out in the field doing, not in the classroom teaching.
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