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California’s Soberanes Fire Is the Most Expensive in America — Ever
Pacific Standard Magazine ^ | 9/22 | Madeleine Thomas

Posted on 09/22/2016 4:20:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway

The Soberanes Fire — which continues to burn throughout California’s Monterey County — is officially the most expensive in the United States’ history, with costs topping $208.4 million, the Associated Press reports.

California already sustains the highest annual wildfire costs of any state. And, as KPCC reports, this year’s fire season as a whole—which has included scorchers like the Blue Cut, Soberanes, and Sand Fires — could prove to be the most expensive for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) since 2000.

The Soberanes Fire, which began on July 22nd after an illegal campfire, is only 71 percent contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. At 121,000 acres burned, the blaze is the 20th largest in the state of all time, according to Cal Fire. (The Cedar Fire, which burned more than 273,000 acres across San Diego County in 2003 is the biggest.) At its peak, the Soberanes Fire was costing $8 million per day, the AP reports. (That figure includes just the compensation paid to firefighters and the prices of containing the fire, not structural damages.) More than 2,000 personnel are still involved in fighting the blaze.

Because of climate change, fire seasons are, on average, about 78 days longer across the country than they were in the ’70s. Twice as many acres also burn from wildfire as they did about 30 years ago — a figure set to double by the middle of the century, according to a 2015 report by the U.S. Forest Service. Since 1960, six of the worst fire seasons have taken place since 2000.

This uptick is taxing the Forest Service considerably. For the first time in more than 100 years, wildfire costs in fiscal year 2015 totaled more than half the federal agency’s budget. “By comparison, wildfire-related expenditures made up just 16 percent of the agency’s budget in 1995,” the National Fire Protection Association reports. “Left unchecked, the agency estimates that by 2025, two of every three dollars Congress allocates to the Forest Service will be used to cover wildfire-related costs.” By 2025, the Forest Service predicts that the costs to fight fires nationwide will grow to $1.8 billion — up from $1.4 billion in 2014.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: bigsur; california; climatechange

1 posted on 09/22/2016 4:20:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Because of climate change, fire seasons are, on average, about 78 days longer across the country than they were in the ’70s.

Snicker, snicker....Madeleine said "climate change". Hehe!

2 posted on 09/22/2016 4:22:45 PM PDT by TheDon (BO must be replaced immediately for the good of the nation and the world!)
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To: nickcarraway

“Because of climate change,” Stopped reading there. Take it for what it is, do not inject politically correct nonsense to make a point.


3 posted on 09/22/2016 4:24:13 PM PDT by Fungi (Soy sauce, you want soy sauce? Enjoy your soy sauce with all the fungi in it!)
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To: nickcarraway

Here in NM the Dog’s Head Fire in late June was started by brush clearing machinery... 18,000 acres later they’d exceeded their wildest goals.

I was evacuated for 4 days.


4 posted on 09/22/2016 4:26:22 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: nickcarraway

Lots of crews driving around here from Orange County, maybe 4 hours away.


5 posted on 09/22/2016 4:31:17 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: nickcarraway

Having lived there for decades, I understand that CA has unique problems with wildfires.

However, there are partial solutions:

1. Log regularly
2. Graze down the brush with livestock, especially goats
3. Plant fire resistant species
4. Have lots of firebreaks and forest access roads
5. MAKE THE SILLY GREENIES FIGHT THE FIRES THAT THEIR ACTIONS PROMOTE!


6 posted on 09/22/2016 4:32:06 PM PDT by darth
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To: nickcarraway
Because of climate change, fire seasons are, on average, about 78 days longer across the country than they were in the ’70s.

Ridiculous. Regulations on controlled little burns have gone nutzo --owl lovers etc. willl scream HOLOCAUST and LUMBER INDUSTRY for burning a single dead bush.

The fuel piles up year after year after year and then when it finally explodes it's a major problem.

Even illiterate Indians (who never viewed mankind as a VIRUS giving Mother Earth a fever) back in the day knew that.

7 posted on 09/22/2016 4:34:42 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: nickcarraway

Not even close. The Bastrop (TX) Complex Wildfire that began Sept. 4, 2011 cost $325 million in insured damages and $20 million in uninsured losses. It raged over 34,068 acres, destroying 1,673 homes, and was not totally extinguished until Oct. 29. Debris removal cost $25 million. It was the most destructive fire in Texas history.


8 posted on 09/22/2016 4:40:57 PM PDT by txrefugee
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To: darth

The goats merely “recycle” the plants..which means you have the same fire situation a few years later.

The truth is that the manzanita and other shrubs in the CA hills propagate by wildfires.


9 posted on 09/22/2016 4:42:02 PM PDT by kaktuskid
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To: nickcarraway

We need Dr. Bill Wattenburg in here for this.


10 posted on 09/22/2016 4:46:23 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: kaktuskid

Longleaf pines here in the southeast are the same way, they’re very fire dependent for propagation, can’t germinate without fire to make the seeds pop open, which can lay dormant for years waiting on a fire. Seedlings are practically fire resistant, grown trees are very tolerant of fire so the understory can be burned off without killing the trees.


11 posted on 09/22/2016 4:47:10 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: nickcarraway; All
Note that the states have never delegated to the corrupt feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to decide academic policy for INTRAstate schools.

In fact, a previous generation of state sovereignty-respecting justices had clarified in general that powers not expressly constitutionally delegated to the feds are prohibited to the feds.

”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.

That said, if you understood common core math, you would at least be able to argue in a court of law why any answer to a math problem is right. /sarc

Remember in November !

Patriots need to support Trump / Pence by also electing a new, state sovereignty-respecting Congress that will not only work within its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers to support Trump’s vision for making America great again for everybody, but will also put a stop to unconstitutonal federal taxes and likewise unconstitutional inteference in state affairs as evidenced by common core math.

Note that such a Congress will also probably be willing to fire state sovereignty-ignoring activist justices.

12 posted on 09/22/2016 4:53:29 PM PDT by Amendment10
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To: nickcarraway

Because of climate change, fire seasons are, on average, about 78 days longer across the country than they were in the ’70s.


Because of clearing and logging bans and lack of firelines, fire seasons are, on average, about 78 days longer across the country than they were in the ’70s. - Fixed


13 posted on 09/22/2016 5:07:37 PM PDT by VTenigma (The Democrat party is the party of the mathematically challenged)
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To: gaijin

And don’t forget the beetles. Half the trees are dead from infestation.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/us/california-wildfires-worsened-by-bark-beetles/index.html


14 posted on 09/22/2016 5:33:25 PM PDT by sheana
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To: Tijeras_Slim

In 1864, the US Army set the plains on fire to drive out the Indians. It burned over most of eastern Colorado and down into the Texas panhandle before dying out.

In 1876, Crazy Horse set the plains on fire to stop the US Cavalry. This set the forests on fire and some coal beds on fire. Burke said they often went to sleep at night watching the forests burn.
The fire burned an area of around 200 miles No one fought the fire and it died out by itself.

It appears the Forest Service is allowing the forests to grow more without thinning as this buildup causes more wildfires.

In 1958, Forest Service adds on TV said each year wildfires burn off the equivalent of the state of Louisiana. Have we exceeded that yet?


15 posted on 09/22/2016 6:17:34 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (HANDGUNS; You don’t need it until you need it. And when you need it you NEED IT!”)
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To: kaktuskid

I understand that fires are part of the native CA ecology.

However, if people are going to build homes in those areas they need to modify the local ecology.

I lived in the hills and had an acre of ice plant around my house with sprinklers mounted on the roof.

Nevertheless, I had a plan to evac in 5 minutes if warranted!

Once, the Fire Chief in La Habra Heights, where I lived, told me that under ideal conditions our entire city could burn to the ground in 20 minutes. Luckily, the bottom of the hill was only a mile away and was safe.


16 posted on 09/22/2016 7:08:34 PM PDT by darth
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