Posted on 08/17/2009 11:58:46 AM PDT by La Enchiladita
LOS ANGELES -- David Gerboth is a captain in the San Diego Fire Department, but he spent most of last summer crisscrossing California putting out wildfires.
There were the 16 days battling a fire in Hayfork, 720 miles to the north. Then he spent 21 days fighting other blazes that burned 86,500 acres.
As California's wildfires consume more land each year, the state is increasingly relying on firefighters like Mr. Gerboth. Under state mutual-aid agreements, he and thousands of other local firefighters are organized into teams that can be quickly dispatched to fight a fire in a neighboring county -- or one hundreds of miles away.
In years past California's wildfire season arrived like clockwork in the late summer and early fall. But recently, the spread of housing into fire-prone regions has turned the threat into a nearly year-round problem.
"They're all coming closer together," said Del Walters, chief of Cal Fire, the state's fire department.
In 2008, a record 1.6 million acres in California burned. Ten of the 20 biggest fires in California's recorded history have happened since 2000. The past two years were classified as "siege years," with abnormally high incidents of wildfires.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
In 2008, a record 1.6 million acres in California burned. Ten of the 20 biggest fires in California's recorded history have happened since 2000. The past two years were classified as "siege years," with abnormally high incidents of wildfires.
—gotta have those wildfires—that prepares the hills for the mudslides in the spring—
There’s talk of instituting a statewide property tax surcharge to go to firefighting, unless they already just quietly passed it one lonely Friday night.
I was watching the weather channel this morning and they said one of the fire origins had been traced to a pot party in the woods.
Why doesn’t Zero appoint a Fire Czar to solve this problem?
Ah here we go, it’s currently being discussed in the budget. It would be a “surcharge” on your home insurance, not a “tax” or “fee”, in order to “legally” break the law on special-purpose tax increases.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=y4kau8nopr1v6o
Too late. L.A. “unified” school district is already slapping extra property tax on homeowners to cover their budget shortfalls, i.e., “educating” illegals’ kids. Everything wrong financially with this state at present can be traced to illegals’ invasion.
“Surcharge” is a current favorite euphemism for govt highway robbery.
And a fire department that lobbies against the purchase of water dropping planes that would put out all these fires in an afternoon. I shed no tears for these overpaid, overappreciated, card-playing phonies. Sorry to offend all the knee jerk sensitivity toward firemen that resulted from 9-11, the facts are that they are nothing more than a slush-heavy California union that should be cut back, salaries, pensions, you name it. Give the money to the cops, who actually earn it.
I’m told that many of the L.A. City firemen live out of state, have ranches from Nevada to Montana. Their schedule of 7-8 24hr days and than 5 or more off means they can commute in the pickup or SUV to and from. Nice lifestyle!!
I was thinking this a.m., hearing the news they want to fight City Hall re cutbacks, why not go back to the fine old American tradition of volunteer fire departments....???
If California ordered 5 water dropping planes and had them sitting in a hangar somewhere, they could eliminate half the fire departments all over the state. A very telling factor is the waiting list to become a fireman in California, which is years and years. The indication is very clear; a zillion people want this cush job with the ridiculous retirement plan and the easy 20 years of card-playing. They could cut the package in half and still fill the ranks. Union scam, just another in a long line of many.
Don’t forget the gourmet cookery they are famous for.... although I have never been invited to dinner at the local fire station.
Nevertheless, there are heroes among the ranks. Unions may have corrupted the profession to a degree but doesn’t detract from quality first responders. Unions are leaches akin to sports agents, polluting and profaning everything they touch. I still say FFs are by and large good guys.
“Unions are leaches akin to sports agents..”
Except that the constituencies don’t request the union’s representation, and cannot influence their representation or fire them if they disagree with the representation. The athlete actively pursues and hires the sports agent to work on his or her behalf, the agent is specifically chosen. Not so with the union.
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