Trump blames Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for deadly wildfires

Thanks for pointing out the absolute failure from the US Forest Service of trying to do a controlled burn. So since there was an instance of failure in a controlled burn the solution is don't do them? Brilliant.

 

Maybe we should take our expert wall building skills and build a big tall wall east of LA to block the Santa Ana winds and divert them down to Mexico.

 

I did not find 1 instance. Just a remarkable one that is in my memory as i did some work in Tate’s Hell and happened to know some of the employees of the company that did the burn. As I mentioned unless it is a spectacular fail, an escaped fire seldom gets public notice but from my colleagues and training i am aware of how often it occurs. Not rare.

If it was your job to pull a permit in an area of highly flammable vegetation in a residential area with low relative humidity how eager would you be to sign you name knowing you could be legally and personally liable?

 

The Federal Firefighters have a huge resource pool from which to pull assets. Having a fire escape their capabilities points out the risks and unpredictable nature of fire.

 

If it was my job, I would make sure I have all the resources available to me to do proper controlled burns and have backup resources available. All you keep saying is there was nothing that California could do. I don't believe that and more importantly the people who's houses burned down don't believe California did all they could do to prevent this from happening. This isn't something new to California. Been happening since we settled the land hundreds of years ago. The fact we haven't learned to do controlled burns and try to clear the underbrush is a main reason we are in this situation now.

 

Obviously whoever was in charge failed in that respect. Simple as that. Just like there are bad cops, bad doctors, I'm sure there are bad Federal Firefighters. Sorry, the "let's do nothing" because it's dangerous isn't an acceptable answer to me and many others.

 

I do not think cally allows controlled burns

 

CA and BLM definitely needs to do more in their forests, even their own public reports acknowledge that before and after the camp fire.

But these are not forests we are talking about. It’s brush and residential land. If that Palisades fire started where AZ indicated looks like that’s a state park, so of course they should have cleared it if they knew a fire would start in a particular spot. Hindsight is also 20-20. But this may not be an area where they do “controlled burns”, and part of that may be because it’s too damned risky and close to private residences and property right down the hill. Imagine if a fire like this started because of a controlled burn.

The crazy thing here is the window for controlled burns up there would be this time of year. Instead this year they are getting Santa Ana winds. Last year it was extremely wet, so that would have been ideal window. Unfortunately that’s not how anything works.

 

Nope, not at all new. The Chaparal is a fire climax community requiring frequent fire to exist. Humans have placed their communities into this environment with predictable results. No doubt CA could do more however your post that I responded to was to compare directly acreage burned in each state as an indication of malfeasance. I have tried to point out that CA ain’t FL visa vie prescribed burns.

 

You do realize that setting fire to entire hillsides of highly flammable brush is not a panacea, right? Perhaps you should share your contact info with the powers that be out there. I'm sure they could benefit greatly from your expertise.

 

This isn't about Hindsight being 20-20. This isn't some new issue. Been happening for centuries. Simply do the controlled burns wherever possible and make sure to do everything possible to prevent this from happening again. Like i've said, California did not do all they could to prevent this.

 

Thanks Capt Obvious...

So you are good with how California handled the fires and preventive risk. Got it. I imagine most of the people affected by the fires don't agree with you.

 

Not limited to CA. The largest wildfire in TX history (500,000 acres) occurred recently (Abbot is Gov) that destroyed 500 structures. I think it was caused by electrical equipment/lines exacerbated by drought. What are the preventative measures that could be done?
Droughts happen, lightning happens, downed electric lines happen. Somethings are beyond our control.

 

There are a string of fires started be power lines. Obviously, the answer is No Electricity For You!

 

From link in post #77 " Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation appropriating $1 billion over five years to thin California's forests through tree removal and intentionally set fires called prescribed burns. "

From another link "Prescribed fires (a controlled burn used to control wildfires) more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, the governor’s post said. Newsom’s press office said the state invests $200 million annually for healthy forest and fire prevention programs, and that his budget commits $4 billion more in prior and future investments in wildfire resilience over the next several years."

Also see linked article from post #394.

 

Yes, natural disasters are out of our control. Doing controlled burns are in our control. Simple as that. You think California did a good job, I think they handled this so poorly that heads will roll.

 

See my post regarding how much land actually had controlled burns on it. CA is roughly 3 times the size of FL yet FL had burned more than 200k acres than CA did in 2023. So, no CA didn't do nearly enough with regard to controlled burns.

 

No doubt. The desire to appropriate blame will exceed the desire to learn. Rinse and repeat.

Was Tx’s fire a natural disaster? Did the state fail to ensure the conduction of electricity was done in a 100% safe manner? Could they have done better?

 

The area above Malibu/Palisades is a hilly, scrub area. Not a forest. And not an area where prescribed burns would help much, if at all. The chaparral grows quickly during the wet season. And during the dry season, the prevailing winds are the Santa Ana's, and the risk of fire heading down the hills into the neighborhoods is too great.

Fire is a natural part of the hills above LA, and the area was not overdue for a burn. Prescribed burns in the area wouldn't have helped. Last year's wet season caused greater than normal brush growth. And then once the wet season is over, any burn runs a great risk of burning the towns below, which is exactly what happened. A prescribed burn two years ago wouldn't have changed a thing. More than enough scrub would have grown from last year, and any fire in 80+ mph winds are going to grow to be monsters.

What might have helped is keeping neighborhoods more fire safe. Removing anything in yards that was dead/dry. And better fireproofing houses in the areas.

 

IF that area was a known wild fire area then yes they should've done preventive burns. But this has nothing to do with what is happening in CA. This has been a known issue for over a 100 years. So not sure why you are trying to argue something that has nothing to do with the current situation. The leadership in CA failed it's citizens.