Legatus wrote:
You know air water drops as a means of fire suppression is not generally effective. They are often used simply as a very expensive (sometimes at the cost of pilots life) PR method. People think that is what they should see, so that is what they are given. Not to say that they don't have a place, just that most of the time, they are for show, while all the real firefighting still happens on the ground.
I watched the Cedar fire from 1am the morning it started until after 5pm that same night. I watched El Capitan mountain burn - the whole thing - in about 30 minutes and knew how bad the fire was. They are supposed to be trained and they did not seem to have a clue. I've lived here since 1976 and have seen lots of fires out here. I've seen many, many fast moving fires at Camp Pendleton that were controlled by fir fighters that actually have a clue.
They used to frequently send out the convicts to our area to clear brush. They sent bulldozers to make fire breaks. I've seen many fires out here in windy conditions and they sent the bombers and helos (there's a damn lake less than a mile from my front door!) There is no excuse for the damage to homes and people's lives during the Cedar fire or the subsequent fires other than the complete incompetence of the idiots running the show and the politicians currently in office.
Visibility was not so bad that they could not fly. When the fire started (Cedar) in Ramona, they could have began fighting it. They could have set fire lines where they had plenty of time to build breaks and stop the onslaught. They need to tell the EPA to fsck off and allow people to clear 100ft from their homes. Better yet, tell developers to fsck off and stop building in rural areas where fires will happen and homes will burn. They need to stop fighting fires except when they get near homes (this they have actually begun doing to some extent). Communities (such as mine) need fire breaks that are maintained and fire hoses to help fight the impending fires (we have them now). Most of the steps the local and state idiots have put into place have done nothing to help thus far.
PGA -- Paul G. Allen, BSIT/SE Owner, Sr. Engineer Random Logic Consulting Services www.randomlogic.com -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
