Posted on 12/09/2021 7:52:44 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
A father and son are under arrest on suspicion of starting the Caldor Fire, which decimated over 220,000 acres of land in Northern California and burned for over two months. The fire caused widespread evacuations, which included the city of South Lake Tahoe, and destroyed 1,003 structures.
According to a statement from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon, David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, were arrested Wednesday for their alleged connection to the fire.
The two men are accused of "reckless arson" in connection with the fire, but officials did not publicly specify what led to the Smiths’ arrest. Reckless arson, also known as reckless burning, is a less severe charge than "malicious" arson, which requires officials to prove that an individual or individuals "willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns ... any structure, forest land, or property." The maximum sentence for anyone found guilty of reckless arson is six years.
KCRA reports that each individual is being held on $1 million bail.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
So what-just tell them you are homeless and get off no bail. No one is ever guilty anymore.
Unless there were 2.2M acres of land, decimated is the wrong word for this. I despise journalists who don’t do a little basic vocabulary checks because they think a word sounds good.
Most likely some pantifa terrorists. If not then hang em anyway. The Sequoia National forest is directly across the road and we live in fear of wildfires every year.
Most likely burning a brush pile around their property and it got away.
THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!
IT WAS CLIMATE CHANGE!
ALL THE NETWORKS SAID SO!..............................
Arrest all the stupid city slickers who go out in the woods to camp and start camp fires when extreme fire restrictions are on and then leave them burning.
That is what it sounds like to yours truly.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/09/us/caldor-fire-father-son-arrested/index.html
Hang them too. If it was a complete accident then okay but stupidity and especially on purpose is unforgivable. People die from wildfires.
Well, I live very near part of the burned area and 'decimated' is the word I'd use.
Just drive Highway 50 from Placerville to Tahoe and see the devastation.
So much for globull warming.
Decimated has roots in the Roman era when they would execute everything tenth man of a conquered population.
Decimate means to a cut a tenth of something. It does NOT mean devastate or eradicate.
The more I read about it the pair obviously started the fire accidentally. The court will have to decide. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.
Do you seriously not think a tenth of the area was decimated? Talk to the residents.
I have no idea. They don’t reveal the extremity of the area, just give us a number. If there are 2.2M acres, great, they used the word correctly. Otherwise, they just thought it was a clever word to use.
Sometimes connotation overwhelms denotation.
Right now the only apparent reason these guys were arrested is because they called 911 to report the fire at the outset and that makes them “likely suspects”.
A quote from the CNN article:
>>> Attorney Mark Reichel told The New York Times that the Smiths tried to call 911 and warned other campers after spotting flames at the Eldorado National Forest at the fire’s onset, and the two had hired Reichel in August after their homes and phones were searched.
“My clients and I have literally just sat and waited for this day to come,” Mr. Reichel said. “As we sit here tonight, we have no idea what the prosecution’s theory is on how the fire started.” <<<
So aside from being the first to call 911 not even the defense attorney or the accused know why they were arrested.
Memo to self: If you see a forest fire in California let someone else call 911.
dec·i·mate (dĕs′ə-māt′)
tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates
1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group of people or organisms).
2. Usage Problem
a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The storm decimated the region.
b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers).
[Latin decimāre, decimāt-, to punish every tenth person, from decimus, tenth, from decem, ten; see dekm̥ in Indo-European roots.]
dec′i·ma′tion n.
Usage Note: Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a population. In our 2005 survey, 81 percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population. This is an increase from the 66 percent who accepted this sentence in our 1988 survey. However, the Panel is less accepting of usages that extend the meaning to include large-scale destruction other than killing, as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Some 36 percent accepted this sentence in 2005, up from 26 percent in 1988, but still a decided minority.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
I’m with you. ‘Decimate’ means to destroy 10% of something. The Caldor Fire ANNIHILATED the forest and in many places there is nothing left aside from ash.
I have friends in Grizzly Flat who lost their dream retirement home and until they clear all the dead trees from their property they can’t rebuild. The forest won’t be back for twenty to thirty years.
Because it was annihilated.
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