"Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires"

WYLL.com, NewsMax.com, IllinoisLeader.com ^ | 6.17.2002 | Kevin McCullough

[nravoter]

Thanks for the article. I agree with your assessment: it appears this woman hasn't said anything true yet.

On a side note, I've been thinking that, if this gets made into a TV movie, the scene of her burning the love letter (shot as a fantasy sequence, since it seems that story was also a lie) should be set to the tune of The Break-Up Song (They Don't Write 'Em Like That Anymore) by the Greg Kinh Band.

[Nick Danger]

This is an excellent example of how deeply ingrained in our culture is the idea that women can do no wrong. If caught doing something wrong, there is a man somewhere in the vicinity whose fault it is.

The author simply cannot deal with the idea that this woman did a dumb thing and accidentally burned down a forest. It just has to be a man's fault. It has to be, or his whole reality will explode.

This phenomenon would be more amusing if it did not have serious consequences. Over in another thread, people are discussing the court case surrounding two people who owned some very large and dangerous dogs that one day got away from the woman, attacked someone, and killed her. In this case, the jury had found the woman guilty of second-degree murder, and her husband -- who was out of town at the time -- guilty of manslaughter (he had participated in raising the dogs). The judge set aside the murder verdict against the woman, saying that, in his view the husband was more culpable than the wife. Remember now, this guy was out of town when this happened. This woman took these two big dogs that she could not control out for a walk, and a horrible thing happened. But the way this judge sees it, that's the husband's fault.

That judge has plenty of company here on Free Republic, and indeed throughout our entire culture. I couldn't believe all the contortions people went through to blame Andrea Yates' husband for the fact that she murdered their children while he was at work. It's like people hit a brick wall in their minds when they encounter female evil-doing. It cannot be, and so it is not. A man did it. A man had to have done it. And we'll just bend reality until it is so.

It's an interesting cultural phenomenon, but it leads to some really strange results when it gets mixed up with the criminal justice system.

[moondoggie]

LOL....truth is always stranger than fiction.

Glad you enjoyed the article. It's the first unsympathetic article to date. She's being held in jail without the chance to make bail "for her own safety".

......a very wise move on the part of the judge, IMO.

I'm about as sympathetic to this arsonist as I am when I read comments from friends and family about the guy who has just killed his entire family...."he was one of the nicest guys I ever met in my life"...Duh.

[Freedom4US]

Red flags immediately went up when I heard about the "Burning letters from Estranged Husband and the Fire Got Away"; I suspect she was setting the fire on purpose. First of all, a few letters in a fire ring isn't going to torch the forest, and one presumes a Forest Service employee knows how to run a campfire (Well, maybe not anymore, but my point should still stand)

But, to lay blame on an abusive, misogynistic patriarchal oppressive White Male (tm) well, might as well further the "progressive" agenda while we are at it. Sounds like some story her lawyer might concoct.

10 bucks says she gets off on some sort of probation, after her horrible husband is pilloried in the press. The whole thing has an odor.

[StoneColdGOP]

I don't feel sorry for this dumb broad.

No matter what her state of "emotional distress" (oh boo hoo!) her professionalism (i.e. NOT starting fires!) should have over-ruled.

Instead of using a logical resolution like throwing the letter in a trashcan, she chose an emotional, firey little ceremony, (oh the drama of it all!!) to burn the letter.

And now half of Colorado gets to pay for her being an idiot!

Just like a woman...

[wingnuts'nbolts]

On another thread dealing with this fire starting subject a link was provided to a John Denver sympathizer website, where this woman (or someone with the same name) was quoted as saying that all small aircraft should be banned. Sounds like an "Earth in the Balance" ecoterrorist response to me.

[scholar]

the three formal federal charges against Barton -- setting the woods on fire, damaging federal property and lying -- all contain the word "willfully."

Yet the article says she is not being charged with "arson." Does anyone know why if the fire was set "willfully" that she is not being charged with "arson?"

[moondoggie]

Littwin in the Rocky Mountain News "kind of" got it right. His last two paragraphs speak for most of us here. I could argue the part about people living in forest areas because Colorado "is" a forested state and people working in Denver have to live "somewhere", but that's a subject for a different thread.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_1215095,00.html

I know that isn't going to be a hyperlink. Sorry....I'm trying!

[moondoggie]

You asked...

Yet the article says she is not being charged with "arson." Does anyone know why if the fire was set "willfully" that she is not being charged with "arson?"

I've talked to a former firefighter who tells me the charge of arson is very hard to prove in that "intent" comes into play and it's hard to prove a person's intent.

The grand jury, however, could very well come back with a charge of arson.

She's still looking at 10-20 years in the slammer and as mad as people are, it's hard to believe she wouldn't get the maximum if found guilty of the present charges.

[mel]

I have heard of people throwing letters in a existing fire, but to start a fire simply to burn a letter is not really plausible especially in a no fire zone. That doesn't make any sense at all. I am always one to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but it really looks like (IMHO) she started a fire with the intention of being a hero in alerting her supervisors to its presence and perhaps getting a promotion.

[scholar]

She's still looking at 10-20 years in the slammer and as mad as people are, it's hard to believe she wouldn't get the maximum if found guilty of the present charges.

I just hope that the limp-wristed liberals, like the guy who posted this article, don't prevail in her sentencing.

[Hoosier Patriot]

What crawled up this guy's butt?

Perhaps he's projecting his own sorrow from the estrangement with his boyfriend upon poor Terry the Torch Barton.

[TC Rider]

...but it really looks like (IMHO) she started a fire with the intention of being a hero in alerting her supervisors to its presence and perhaps getting a promotion.

I think there is more to it than that. If not discovered, how many enviro-wackos would be crying that we need to keep the people out of the forests, no ATVs, no snowmobiles, no hunting. Remember these are the same people who planted Lynx hair to establish a habitat for an animal that wasn't there.

[scholar]

BTW, thanks for responding to my question.

[moondoggie]

FISCHER LEARNS FATE OF BUFFALO HERD

DECKERS - Neil Fischer is one of many frustrated landowners who watched the news coverage of the Hayman fire during the week, hoping the flames would somehow skip his buffalo ranch near Deckers. They didn't, but Fischer's luck was still better than other's.

9NEWS first met Fischer last week. He was a worried caller, trying to get information, any information on his herd. He showed us pictures of buffalo he'd raised by hand, including a runt named Rudy.

When Sky 9 was finally able to get close enough to the fire to see Fischer's Buffalo Peak Ranch, the heartbreak was almost overwhelming.

The advancing flames had spared his home, but destroyed several other buildings. The biggest source of grief was video of his 27 buffalo, lying on the ground. There was some movement here and there, but it didn't look good.

"They don't lay down like that," Fischer said while viewing the video. "This is not good…It doesn't look very good."

Forest Service officials allowed Fischer access to his ranch Saturday. The flames were still burning on the hillside just a quarter mile away. A helicopter hovered a few hundred yards away, using its bucket in a nearby lake to scoop up water to douse the flames.

The hills were still covered with smoke, but Fischer got perhaps as close to a miracle as you can get. Despite the flames that hop scotched across his ranch, randomly burning buildings, and despite the intense heat and smoke, Fischer found his herd—all 27 members—alive, apparently healthy and waiting for his return.

Even Rudy the runt was there, no worse for the wear.

As Fischer unloaded hay for his gentle beasts, he breathed a sign of relief.

"Oh I'm incredibly grateful," he said, giving thanks to firefighters. (Copyright 2002 by 9NEWS KUSA-TV. All Rights Reserved)

[Nick Danger]

it really looks like (IMHO) she started a fire with the intention of being a hero in alerting her supervisors to its presence and perhaps getting a promotion.

Hmmm. That's a very good fit with her actions immediately after "discovering" the fire.

[moondoggie]

State officials are meeting about filing state charges against her now. Among other things, she could be charged with murder, if the fire kills anybody.