Do you think the Sierra Club fears a backlash? I doubt it. They're so nicely nested within Arizona's institutions. Even the Tucson Diocese holds its annual day on the golf course with this activist group. That's a whole other depressing story...
I can almost guarantee that the hiker twit who started one of the formerly two fires considered herself an environmentalist. 1) she assumed that the rules didn't apply to her when she started her signal fire. Environmentalists are dripping with the 'I know so much more than the foolish little people so don't bother me with your silly little rules' attitude. 2) this attitude is echoed in that probability she was some 'city girl.' The folks living on the 'wild'erness boundary, whose livelihood often depends on the land, have more respect for and knowledge of the land than the idoit environmentalists and the weekend warrior city-dwellers. 3) she was stupid enough to be out of her league hiking up there. It is stupid to leave the trail or road if you don't have the skills to get back. It is even stupider to NOT realize that in the forests of Northern Arizona all you have to do is hike hard for half a day in ANY direction and you'll hit a road. You don't need a signal fire if you're sitting on a road.
Sorry about the incoherant rant, but this has been building for days. Was born and raised in Arizona and will always consider it my home. Went to college in Flagstaff (even trained as a wildland firefighter while there) and got more than my fill of arrogant and stupid tree-hugging environmentalists. My heart aches for those people who are in harm's way and I pray for the strength of the firefighters.
I feel better now that this is all out of my system.