California wildfires strain state's resources

Associated Press ^ | July 5, 2008 | By ROBERT JABLON

[antiunion person]

LOS ANGELES - A wildfire threatening thousands of homes in Southern California spread slowly through scenic canyonlands Saturday, straining resources as crews struggled to contain hundreds of other blazes around the state.

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"The firefighters are stretched thin, they are exhausted," and some have gone days without sleep, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who visited a command post in Santa Barbara County.

A slew of wildfires, most ignited by lightning two weeks ago, has burned more than 800 square miles of land throughout California. The blazes have destroyed at least 69 homes and other buildings and contributed to the death of a firefighter who suffered a heart attack while digging fire lines.

About 1,400 fires have been contained, but more than 330 still burned out of control Saturday.

[antiunion person]

Fantastic, another "fee". Democrats just love adding fees, they don't need to vote them in because they aren't taxes. The millions upon millions of dollars spent fighting all these fires could have been spent on having forestry personnel going through the forests and clearing out brush and dead trees. Thus, creating less fuel to burn, less hot fires, and given the state a way to create jobs for more forestry people. But HELL NO, don't prevent something from happening and then have to fight and clean it up after. Many of the homes lost in fires would have never even been threatened if the state took that preventive strike. Get ahead of a situation and fight offensively, not defensively as they are now. I understand that not all forest can be cleaned in a single season, but just think of the potential of getting ahead of the game in about a decade or so. This so-called 'fee' Arnold the Terminal Rino wants to impose, will never be taken off the books. We will be paying this fee, which will be increased every fire season, forever. Everyone knows fees and taxes are never lowered or eliminated, just raised. We, the people, of Mexifornia need to stand up and say no to this fee and tell our legislators to tell the enviro whackos, who want everything to burn 'naturally', to stick it.

[Outland]

When is someone going to sue California for creating all that “greenhouse gas” from all those wild fires? After all, it’s mainly due to their negligence for not clearing all that dry, dead tinder and not thinning out the older growth and making fire breaks.

[Americanwolf]

Gee the wildfires were the final straw in straining cali’s resources????.... couldn’t be the rest of the nanny state programs could it????

[BurbankKarl]

I think CA raised taxes today without a vote.

haha.... have to pay back all the mutual aid sent here....

[BurbankKarl]

Schwarzenegger noted that 41 different states have supplied firefighters and equipment in California’s hour of need. He praised such cooperative efforts—as well as those between the state, federal, and local firefighting agencies now battling the Gap Fire—observing that different agencies often have different agendas, which don’t always mesh. “It is not sometimes easy,” he said. He contrasted the harmonious inter-agency cooperation now taking place with the Gap Fire to what happened with Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. “It’s unlike what happened with Katrina where nothing happened and everything went wrong,” he said. “Here, everything goes right.”

[television is just wrong]

good idea class action suit so we the taxpayers can recoup our losses from the fees

[Westlander]

Let it burn. It’s natures way of cleansing itself.

[Myrddin]

It appears even my small city of Chubbuck (pop 9,600) is going to send an engine and crew to help. I certainly hope CA covers those costs. We really need a 2nd fire station. I'm not sure how we are able to cut loose an engine and crew.

[sf4dubya]

When is someone going to sue California for creating all that “greenhouse gas” from all those wild fires?

Dunno about that one, but I'll tell ya, I'm really tired of breathing the smoke coming from California. Nevada should fine the state of California every time my view of Mt. Rose is blocked!!!

[JoanneSD]

Sorry about the smoke, but could u please call Harry Reid, and tell him that it is not gas and coal that is making u sick......Mother nature is trying to reach him...

[antiunion person]

the final straw in straining cali’s resources

The final straw was when Arnold got in. He was supposed to the savior of the state. That went to hell in a hand basket quick. How can a person will a republican, when IT is married to a Kennedy?? One of the straws was also illegal immigration. All these wetbacks, uh, sorry, undocumented immigrants crossing our open borders getting free welfare, free hospital care, free this and free that. I just got out of the hospital. Spent ten days there and being white (the real minority), the mexicans and all the illegals aren't paying my bill. Sooner than later, all of the upper class and most of the middle will move out of this septic tank of a state and leave it to the Democrats and illegals.

[truthguy]

Yes, yes, yes! So much of the problem with Wildfires in California and much of the West is becasue of poor forest management. And guess who are the culprits? Well I think most here at FR know that it's the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other so called environmental groups who are responsible for stopping every attempt at responsible logging which could thin out our forests to their natural density and clean up the debris from the forest floors. The public is nearly totally ignorant about the situation and they are led to believe that drought conditions are responsible for this situation. They also believe that so call “global warming” is also responsible. These people are dumber than dirt but they also vote. If anyone wants to know why you think the so called enviromental groups are responsible for this mess, ask a simple question. Do you ever see a section of land owned by Weyerhaeuser, Georgia Pacific, Boise Cascade, go up in a devistating fire? Oh course not. They know how to protect their investments and they practice intelligent forest management On their own land they cannot be stopped by Sierra Club lawsuits.

[RICK77]

Forget about these wild-fires - The Only thing “straining” California’s Natural 7 Man-Made Resources are all those Mexicans & Their 15 Anchor Babies ;o)