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The fact that he was a firefighter is probably a benign point. Everyone in Cibecue is a firefighter. There are few other opportunities. From the location I would guess that this fire was accidental and alcohol was involved.

It is, however, no secret that firefighters can make their own work. In a busy summer a firefighter can bank $80,000. If the season is slow they can expect $15,000. That is quite an incentive for a busy season. Rumors abound in the firecamps and most of them are bull but there are enough credible stories to make you realize that there is some truth there.

The real culprits are the ones that set the stage for this fire. The environmentalists are, in effect, running the forests. They've crawled back under their rocks right now, but we need to drag them out expose them for having caused this. If this slob hadn't caused it something else would have.

The homeowners can shoulder some of the blame also. Every time the Forest Service proposes a prescribed burn or thinning they are met with opposition by a few Little Miss Prissys. Burns are nasty and black and smell bad. Thinning means cutting trees out of their viewscape. They need to learn that nature will not conform to our preferences. Now we have a big black scar to show us just how wrong they were.

The prescribed burn is but one option to be utilized when all other options are impractical. Cattle grazing cleans up a lot of the trash that builds up on the forest floor. Logging will thin out the most of the thick stands that cause the biggest burns.

These are the two most economic means to get a return on the Federal investment as well as furnish lumber for the consuming public.

The officials on the public lands have discouraged any public use for the simple reason it makes their jobs harder. They can draw a salary by setting on their posterior without public involvement. In a case that I am familiar with, there is a force of 108 employees overseeing a total of 87,000 acres with no timber sales and a small amount of grazing.

It is, however, no secret that firefighters can make their own work. In a busy summer a firefighter can bank $80,000. If the season is slow they can expect $15,000.

Wow. I didn't realize that there was this much financial incentive to start fires.

The real culprits are the ones that set the stage for this fire. The environmentalists are, in effect, running the forests.

With all the possible causes of a forest fire ---bonfires, engine sparks, lightening, cigarettes from windows, I don't think they can trace these fires to 3 or 4 individuals stepping up to claim the blame. The environmentalists will use this to further claim that humans can't be in or near the forests and the media will make it look like 3 or 4 people did all this instead of the stupid government policies toward the forests and mismanagement of them the past two administrations.