Western fires

[m1west]

This weekend I traveled to my cabin in the Diamond mountains in northern Ca., 5 miles off grid above Susanville Ca. First off I had to go to Nevada to get there as all the other roads in and out were closed except for 395. I got to see first hand the utter devastation to the whole area. Susanville has become the refugee central as well as the fire fighting hub for the Dixie fire. What makes me extremely angry about the whole thing is it was let get out of control before they started addressing it, because of Forestry Service and CalFire policies of letting small fires in remote areas burn to conserve resources and burn fuel to stop future fires. I think it would be a reasonable approach if the environmentalist groups had not stopped logging and cattle grazing that eliminated undergrowth and fuel in the forest that lead to crown fires in the tops of the trees that spread quickly and are difficult to put out. Like last year they let the fire go until it threatened Susanville and nearly burned down my cabin as well as everyone else up there. This year another small fire ( Dixie fire ) was let go for a week until the wind picked up then spread out of control and completely burned down Greenville, a small gold rush town that has been there since 1860 and the severe damage to several others that were not so small and lakeside communities. The fire is 31% contained and is the largest fire in Ca. history. Thousands of structures have been destroyed as well as the mountain landscape., not to mention the health risks with all the smoke and ash. People that make decisions that hurt and kill folks should be held responsible personally, especially when the point has been argued with them and they have defended there positions year over year. I suppose everyone knows that its easier to put out a fire that is the size of NY than to put it out when it started. Stupid is one thing, but these idiots are burning down the state, costing millions of dollars and killing people. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. If they continue down this path, there is only one conclusion to be made ( they are doing it on purpose ).

 

[m1west]

 

[m1west]

The first article was written in 2016, the second a few days ago. The headlines tell all. Climate change my ass. The only climate that changed is the political climate.