FR Brainstorming: Solving Southern California's Wildfires [Vanity]

10/22/07 | Vanity

[Hebrews 11:6]

My daughter's boyfriend is a California Department of Forestry firefighter. When he returns from the present battle, I will discuss this idea with him. Meanwhile, what do you think? I am particularly interested in whether this is likely to be workable and effective. Please do not discount it on a cost basis--California can afford it, considering the alternative (500,000 to 1,000,000 evacuated).

What other ideas do you have? Do not censor yourself--let your imagination roam.

[xcamel]

Do what the Native Americans did for thousands of years in that area - clean up the dead wood, and do controlled burns.

Anything else is idiotic.

[mickeylee]

Kick the Nazi Enviro Wackjobs out to begin with. Because of them, we cannot remove brush or under growth lest we disturb an endangered fly or cockroach, etc.

[FReepaholic]

I think your idea has merit, although I'm not sure any amount of water could stop these types of firestorms.

I'm amazed at the intensity of this one.

[jwalsh07]

Get illegals off the tax trough and build and maintain fire breaks. Crapcan the environmental laws that prevent private citizens from clearing brush around their property that lies on public land. Pipe the sprinkler systems up to the roof, forget the grass and water the roof. A pool full of water is enough to save many a home if you can pump the water to the roof.

or move to NE Ct, we don't have any forest fires to speak of but we do have a lot of snow which is why I keep a Jeep equipped with a plow and chains solely to remove the snow form my 1/4 mile driveway.

[ml/nj]

You need to listen to Rush's WABC Internet feed. They have a commercial with guy who calls up a sprinkler company and tells them he wants to put sprinklers in the forests to put out fires. I really don't remember what the commercial was for but the sprinkler company guy hangs up on the caller because he knows the guy is nuts.

ML/NJ

[Tenacious 1]

Here is a foolproof idea. It works and your son will agree.

Let folks go into the forest and clear the dead wood and brush. While most fires today are started by humans, they do naturally occur. It is part of mother earths cycle, whether we like it or not.

A healthy forest does not burn as well as a forest with lots of aging dead wood on the ground. Also, clearing part of the densest and oldest part of forest creates large fire lanes while providing logging opportunities for those evil capitalists.

We as humans actually can control these thing with a little planning in a win win manner. Our biggest problem is that our government and the environmentalists will not allow us to go in and help protect those treasured forests by thinning them out and cleaning them up.

Mother nature has her own way of cleaning up old growth forests. SHE BURNS THEM DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW GROWTH WHILE SIMULTANEIOUSLY PROVIDING NUTRIENTS TO THE NEXT GENERATION FOREST. We actually have the ability to controls some of this (not all).

[Tenacious 1]

....and that rare species of mosquito. Let’s not let them go extinct.

[Coyoteman]

Do what the Native Americans did for thousands of years in that area - clean up the dead wood, and do controlled burns.

Correct. Fuel buildup is the single greatest factor in these fires.

Without the heavy fuel buildup, the low humidity, high temperatures, and heavy winds would have little to work with.

A good book on the subject:

Thomas C. Blackburn & Kat Anderson
1993 Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management by Native Americans. Ballena Press.

[davetex]

I like your idea. I’ve always wondered why they continue to be reactive instead of proactive when we all know the fires come every year. Installing tanks on the ridges ahead of development would no doubt be cheaper than what is happening now. The tanks would have to be there anyway when subdivisions are built. Using them as a preventative measure first does make sense.

[xcamel]

It’s another “forget history” thing - IIRC a couple thousand people died in northern or central california back in the 1890’s or 1920’s from a massive fire...but the local tribes never even saw so much as an ember flying by...

[xcamel]

until there is an earthquake, and the tank busts open and washes a few hunderd homes and people away...

[abigailsmybaby]

Any ideas on how to stop the wind?

[CJ Wolf]

I think we need to get Karl back on the weather machine. I’m not sure who Bush has running it now. I the mean time I’ll pray for rain. Here and there.

[davetex]

I’m not from California, but are you saying they don’t use water storage tanks in/for the subdivisions that are built?

[NonValueAdded]

Barricade Gel

Just saw it on a PBS show and it saved 20 homes during the Palm Coast fires in Florida in 1998. Amazing.

Then send in the FireCat and that German guy with his IFEX 3000

[isthisnickcool]

Other than figuring out a way to control rainfall you are out of luck.

Unfortunately, you cannot control Mother Nature. That's what is so amusing about idiots like Al Gore, they think they can actually change the way the planet works.

Sometimes these problems are caused by man just being stupid and building in dumb places, like New Orleans. But most of the time it's just natures way.

God bless the firefighters, they bravely go where few of us would tread.

With that said I hope you prove me wrong and conjure up a way to fix the problem of these fires.

[metmom]

I’m going to remind myself to count my blessings with every shovelful of snow I heave off my driveway.

My house is still standing. Nobody burned to death. I still have my lawn and trees.

[Hebrews 11:6]

are you saying they don’t use water storage tanks in/for the subdivisions that are built?

They absolutely do, but they are used for residential water. Why not add several more tanks dedicated to firefighting?

[Hebrews 11:6]

Any ideas on how to stop the wind?

But of course! Put enormous fans on top of the water tanks to push against the wind!

Seriously, a couple decades ago an idea was seriously considered to use fans to pull the smog out of the LA Basin, through a mountain tunnel and out into the unpopulated desert. I am not kidding!