Posted on 09/04/2007 12:49:53 PM PDT by george76
As flames advanced on the wealthy vacation community of Sun Valley, real estate agent Todd Conklin sent his wife and kids to safety, then offered spa treatments to some of the more than 1,600 firefighters and National Guardsmen arriving in town.
“They said, ‘No, we don’t need that,”’ Conklin said. “So we just started buying them dinners.”
Conklin’s offer is emblematic of how this town where Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Kerry, Demi Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Hanks have second homes has dealt with a 78-square-mile wildfire that broke out more than two weeks ago.
As F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed, the very rich are different from you and me.
When the blaze threatened homes in this community where Ernest Hemingway lived (and committed suicide in 1961), some of the rich clambered aboard private jets and departed for clearer skies.
Others packed up their artworks in trucks and horse trailers after more than 2,000 homes were evacuated. Insurance companies sent in private firefighting teams to Sun Valley and Ketchum, where homes are valued at a collective $6 billion, to prepare for the worst.
Meanwhile, masseuses and hair stylists descended on the fire camps at the foot of Bald Mountain, offering free massages and haircuts.
“Nobody will recognize me when I get home,” said Ben Mehaffy, a Nampa, Idaho, resident who arrived in Sun Valley with the Idaho Air National Guard, as a Ketchum hair stylist spruced up his buzz cut with clippers and mousse.
One reason for the good cheer is that no homes have been destroyed and the fire has been directed away from the community’s prized ski area. On Tuesday, firefighters reported that they had finally contained the blaze. No injuries have been reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaildaily.com ...
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In some circles, offering items or services of value to government agents, in exchange for special consideration or treatment, is illegal.
This is a sumer that should knock some sense into the CA people vis a vis environmental policies that are insane.
Insurance companies sent in private firefighting teams to Sun Valley and Ketchum, where homes are valued at a collective $6 billion, to prepare for the worst.
Huh? Never heard of that before.
Let’s see; those of substantial means use their wealth to protect their property and to help those emergency service providers who are responding to the crises. Sounds proper to me.
In fact, that’s how responsible Americans of lesser means behave when confronted with similar crises!
Of course, AP has to turn it into class envy.
That happens a lot.
A few weeks ago, my family and I went camping in Vermont. A Park Ranger (actually Army Corps of Engineers) told me that when the indians had the land to themselves, it was approx. 60% forested. It would have been more, but too many trees makes for poor hunts, so they periodically set forest fires to open up more meadows.
Today, Vermont is approx. 80% forest. Young trees can't grow on the forest floor (too much shade) and the animal diversity is way down. The Forest floor is littered with dead wood, and the forest itself is distressingly homogenous.
She said that it was a very unhealthy situation (as an ecosystem) and, if there were ever a large fire it would quickly become a massive fire because there's so much fuel. But (she shrugged) you can't do anything about it. Too many regulations.
Environmentalists don't know what they're doing.
Once again, Hollywierdo Celebs are exposed for the hypocrites they are when they stand on a stage and preach to the “little people” how they should cut back on burning gas and turning on lights in the name of global warming, while they pollute and waste like there is no tomorrow.
It should be obvious to everyone that these hypocrites believe that the masses should reduce their consumption so they can consume all the more.
A return to the old days when fire departments were private ventures.
Apparently they blocked the Healthy Forest initiative on the grounds that private companies couldn’t be recruited to clean out the fuel load. First they ran the loggers out of biz in the NW, and then they turned around and said there is no money in forestry. It is about time we find a way to shut them and make them get real jobs.
Had all of Sun Valley and Ketchum been destroyed the percentage of registered Democrats in Idaho would have dropped about 90%.
Darned firefighters!
Just like the old days ?
AIG said it sent private firefighters to spray a barrier of fire retardant on the 10 to 12 homes most at risk.
The movie studios have their own fire departments here in Burbank....Warner Bros has an engine and patrol unit, while Disney I believe has one engine.
Universal Studios has, of course, Rescue 51 (and Patrol 51 and Engine 51) on the lot, but most the tour lies in LA County surrounded by LA City, so it makes sense rather then sending Engine 7 from West Hollywood for every little call.
The studio fire departments have been used to protect sets and locations out in the brush country, and usually work pretty well with LA County units.
And Bob Hope Airport Fire Department is private.....
The movie studios have their own fire departments here in Burbank....Warner Bros has an engine and patrol unit, while Disney I believe has one engine.
Universal Studios has, of course, Rescue 51 (and Patrol 51 and Engine 51) on the lot, but most the tour lies in LA County surrounded by LA City, so it makes sense rather then sending Engine 7 from West Hollywood for every little call.
The studio fire departments have been used to protect sets and locations out in the brush country, and usually work pretty well with LA County units.
And Bob Hope Airport Fire Department is private.....
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Does jon cary’s wife have a house here ?
As someone said up thread... They ran the loggers out and then whine when there was no FS money for management...
That sounds like AIG decided it was less expensive to send firefighters than have to pony up huge settlements for buildings and lost possessions. It was a purely business decision for them. Less expensive homes and possessions might not have caused a similar financial exposure, thus may have been acceptable risks for a future settlement.
Too bad more of the partisan hacks who pollute Hollywood aren’t more like Ernest Hemingway in 1961. Thanks george76.
The federal taxpayers are even paying ( us ).
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