Firefighting Under Fire

OMG! I have an idea, let's just let Santa Barbara burn, with all of its residents and livestock and pets, just to save some trout. When will these envirowackos get a clue? Not until they perish in a fire I suppose.

If the issue of endangerment is so great then construct a hatchery and raise them. Whatever.

I hope that, if this goes to court, there won't be a precedent set that allows a community to perish in a fire only to save a few fish!

This is the most retarded thing I have ever read! Believe me I have read some silly things, but this certainly takes the cake. How about not cutting any oaks down either to make a fireline? Better yet sue the fire as an entity for all the destruction it caused.

Has anyone who has written a statement been up to see the devastation the Forest Service has done to our oaks and grasslands? The Forest Service are hacks at best and derelict in there responsibilities to allow what happened. They, along with the County Fire Dept., had ample opportunity to extinguish the fire long before it got out of control. But no, the overtime pay was too much to give up. So the residents of SB had to bear the results and pay dearly for their incompetence.

hiker:

Your statement regarding adverse impact by firefighters I will grant you, but this is both ignorant and wrong:

"They, along with the County Fire Dept., had ample opportunity to extinguish the fire long before it got out of control. But no, the overtime pay was too much to give up,"

A reckless and crazy assertion.

Would SB4SB also approve of dropping asbestos as a fire retardant?

You know, one doesn't have to destroy the environment in order to save it.

And yes, we can put out fires, save our town and not kill our wild trout. Hatchery indeed!

There's the endangered trout...and something called the "cycle of life" in concern here...heard of it? As a human you've got a bit part...you might want to give it some thought. Does anyone know of alternatives to the use of toxic retardants? Switch your critical thoughts over to researching solutions...where is the better substitute for this (destructive) retardant? Avoid attacking environmentalists...it is the least you can do...even if they're viewed as imperfect ...who else will try to practice preventive maintenance on a global level to protect you and prosperity?

There's another kind of fire retardant those planes can drop that doesn't kill trout, only flames. It will also make brush and trees more resistant to burning in the near future, as well as put out fires. Can anyone guess what it is?

I'll give you a hint: It has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, and it is only toxic to humans and some animals in EXTREMELY large amounts.

Maybe if we weren't fighting Obama's wars in AfPak and IrAq we could have had more resources at home and been able to use a larger quantity of natural fire retardants.

OH-SO-TYPICAL environmentalists' [a.k.a. "TREE Huggers"] tactic = When 'under scrutiny' &/or attack - - e.g. their own partisans potentially facing jail time & financial restitution (for starting the "Jesusita" fire) - THEN use an "approach / avoidance" behavior by "opening a new front" on totally un-related policy issues with equally spacious validities!

THIS IS ONE SUCH "a FISHY{!}" TACTIC BEING USED HERE.

The Environmental Nazis' Intention is transparent = Divert the public's attention from "Jesusita" fire accountabilities, by maintaining 'an endangered fish' is not safe enough, during fire-fighting operations.

Next strategem which the tree huggers, ironically, shall take - DENY that this is their true intent! That is supposed to close the debate! IT WON'T!

DON'T let them get away with such nonsense!

"KEEP THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE", as it were!

Truly missed by this "blatantly bogus issue" - raised by self-proclaimed, pure-of-intention environmentalists - is simply this = WITHOUT OUR FIRE FIGHTERS and FIRST RESPONDERS, then they'd have NO TREES to HUG!

End of debate!

Not Our Heroes!

You mean the firefighters are not omnipotent gods that barely touch the ground when they walk?

I am shocked.

gogosian2001 should be commended for adding to our discussion. One can only grant so much leeway in the areas of logic, spelling and style but, for an eight year old, gogosian deserves credit for trying.

Maybe there is a better way. That's what this legal action is about.

This is not a tree hugger story. There are a number of chemicals on the market that are environmentally safe and actually extinguish fires.

This is a story of a chemical company that had the vision, about 9 years ago, to hire a 36 year veteran of the US Forest Service (fire science laboratory leader). Shortly after this ex-US Forest Service person was hired, the visionary company patented a retardant formula. Once the patent was perfected the US Forest Service changed the retardant specification. Unknowingly, the US Forest Service's new specification could only be met by the company that had just patented their retardant formula.

On March 24, 2006 the National Interagency Fire Center issued a document titled "2006 Wildland Fire Talking Points". Page 19 of this document has a heading called "Retardant". The first sentence under this heading states: "Retardant does not put out fires."

A spokesperson from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said that although County Fire works with Cal Fire and other agencies during wildland fire suppression efforts, the county itself does not use flame retardant.

Interestingly, the California Department of General Services entered into a contract with this visionary chemical company that makes it mandatory for Calfire to purchase its retardant, gel and Class A foam.

If Santa Barbara is truly a hub of environmentalism, we will find a way to ensure this doesn't happen again. Perhaps the wealthy could move down from their mountain perch and into the land of regular folks. Maybe people will choose not to build in the middle of fire-land. Controlled burns are a must. It's time to take responsibility for the way we treat the jewel of the west coast.

Javier Onaindia and his goats would have loved to have worked on clearing all this brush and weeds. Thus eliminating all problems of a fire. Let us know if you need us. We are here for you all.

Javier Onaindia 1(661) 619-3850
Email: AnitaOnaindia@aol.com