One Solution for California's Wildfires

[Silhouette]

Most of the trees in So. Cal are ornamental, planted near homes. The worst fuel out there connecting it all are billions of scrub sumac, ironwood, manzanita bushes that are up to 8' tall or more. They get bone dry and are interspersed with tall grasses that the paltry rain encourages to grow just tall enough to dry out quickly in late Spring to be the perfect underfuel for the larger bushes. Then they in turn ignite the oaks and pines sparsely sprinkled around greener corridors there.

Add Santa Ana winds from the East and relentless heat with Global Weirding, drought, and you have the perfect tinderbox.

The BLM should allow great fire break swaths to be populated by goats in temporary fencing. Those guys will stand up on their hind legs to get every edible twig off of every bush. Butcher them & sell them to the public as the new poor man's meat. Give it a fancy name. [It's actually delicious meat].

After that, send in the pigs. Pigs will go and dig up every vestige of rooted bush left and eat them. The oaks and pines will withstand their pressure but the underfuel will collapse. Finish those pigs off under the oaks on acorns, butcher them and sell their meat for top dollar cuts. Then put the rest of them through a grinder and make breakfast sausage [yum!]

Finally, sheep can be introduced to keep any new growth in check. A hardy breed like the barbados from Africa would be best suited for the dry climate, with short hair and tough constitutions. And again, these guys are delicious!

So a wildfire problem, could be turned into a food surplus. Jobs would be created herding, setting up fencing and managing the livestock...everything down to butchering and processing the food for people.

Fires would be reduced and instead of a desolate wasteland of fuel for wiping out the cities every year, Southern California could become a new branch of that state's great breadbasket.

 

[waltky]

Sherpa Fire in Santa Barbara County spreads...

Southern California wildfire spreads as blazes hit parched states
Sun Jun 19, 2016 - A wildfire fed by parched land and high winds spread in southern California on Saturday, forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes as the blaze formed destructive columns of flames known as fire tornadoes.

The so-called Sherpa Fire in Santa Barbara County, about 90 miles (145 km) northwest of Los Angeles, had burned through about 7,811 acres (3,161 hectares) by Saturday evening, officials said. Firefighters estimated the fire was 45 percent contained after early evening "sundowner winds" that can whip through the area's coastal canyons did not emerge overnight on Friday. "We had a very good night last night ... We've had no life loss, no major injuries and no major structural loss," Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Eric Peterson told a news conference. But county officials issued a new "red flag warning" for gusty winds from Sunday to Tuesday.

A firefighter battles flames from the Sherpa Fire in Santa Barbara, California​

More than 1,200 firefighters have been dispatched to battle the flames, fueled by dry chaparral and grass in coastal canyons about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the affluent city of Santa Barbara. "Now is the time to gather your family members, pets and important documents in case you need to leave quickly," the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office warned people living in areas threatened by the fire. The fire broke out on Wednesday and has been expanding since then, forcing mandatory evacuations in some areas and putting others under evacuation warnings. The fire is one of a series of blazes in western and southwestern states brought about by high temperatures and a prolonged dry spell. One of the largest has been southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, that has destroyed about two dozen homes and forced evacuations.

A fire crew takes shelter behind an engine as the Sherpa Fire advances at El Capitan State Beach in Santa Barbara, California​

More than 700 personnel were fighting the so-called Dog Head Fire that has burned through about 17,615 acres (7,129 hectares) of timber and logging zones in four days. Firefighters said it was 9 percent contained as of Saturday evening. Governor Susana Martinez this week declared a state of emergency to free up resources to fight the blaze. For an area stretching from southern California to southern Nevada and into Arizona, the National Weather service has put out "red flag warnings," indicating conditions that could lead to dangerous fires. It has also issued a heat advisory for large parts of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

Southern California wildfire spreads as blazes hit parched states

 

[Silhouette]

Yep, they're just getting started. I guess the drought hasn't really let up and all that fuel needs to be burned anyway. As long as they can keep it away from homes.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

With all those expensive homes in that area, the owners would probably rather see them burn down than have cattle roaming around them.

 

[Katzndogz]

Catalina hires goatherds to come in and nibble the dead brush. There hasn't been a fire on Catalina in my lifetime. Goats are hired to come and clear out the brush along the freeways out from the cities. It's just very expensive. Those goats don't come cheap. Privately owned herds are not allowed to forage on state or federal property. See the Bundy incident in Nevada.

The real problem is with the insane EPA. They caused the fires with their stupid regulations. Healthy forests periodically burn. Some seeds won't germinate until exposed to fire. Instead of allowing small fires the EPA has the forestry service run out there and put out every wisp of smoke. In some of these areas there has been no fire for 50 to 100 years. Imagine the build up of dead brush.

The EPA has battled eradication efforts of the bark beetle now killing trees. There's a natural habitat issue.

Get rid of the fucking EPA. Get some real forest management that's not political.

 

[Old Rocks]

You know Tippsy, I think that you have been tipping that bottle a bit too much. The ranchers depend on BLM land for their herds. But in a drought, they have to cut back on the number of cows per section, so they do not destroy the grazing land. That is common sense. And when you get assholes like the Bundy's that don't give a damn about conserving the land, you simply have to remove their grazing rights, and give them to someone that is a bit smarter.

 

[Katzndogz]

You know Tippsy, I think that you have been tipping that bottle a bit too much. The ranchers depend on BLM land for their herds. But in a drought, they have to cut back on the number of cows per section, so they do not destroy the grazing land. That is common sense. And when you get assholes like the Bundy's that don't give a damn about conserving the land, you simply have to remove their grazing rights, and give them to someone that is a bit smarter.

Have you explained why we have acres of dead and untouched forage that is the cause of these massive wildfires?

 

[WinterBorn]

Most of the trees in So. Cal are ornamental, planted near homes. The worst fuel out there connecting it all are billions of scrub sumac, ironwood, manzanita bushes that are up to 8' tall or more. They get bone dry and are interspersed with tall grasses that the paltry rain encourages to grow just tall enough to dry out quickly in late Spring to be the perfect underfuel for the larger bushes. Then they in turn ignite the oaks and pines sparsely sprinkled around greener corridors there.

Add Santa Ana winds from the East and relentless heat with Global Weirding, drought, and you have the perfect tinderbox.

The BLM should allow great fire break swaths to be populated by goats in temporary fencing. Those guys will stand up on their hind legs to get every edible twig off of every bush. Butcher them & sell them to the public as the new poor man's meat. Give it a fancy name. [It's actually delicious meat].

After that, send in the pigs. Pigs will go and dig up every vestige of rooted bush left and eat them. The oaks and pines will withstand their pressure but the underfuel will collapse. Finish those pigs off under the oaks on acorns, butcher them and sell their meat for top dollar cuts. Then put the rest of them through a grinder and make breakfast sausage [yum!]

Finally, sheep can be introduced to keep any new growth in check. A hardy breed like the barbados from Africa would be best suited for the dry climate, with short hair and tough constitutions. And again, these guys are delicious!

So a wildfire problem, could be turned into a food surplus. Jobs would be created herding, setting up fencing and managing the livestock...everything down to butchering and processing the food for people.

Fires would be reduced and instead of a desolate wasteland of fuel for wiping out the cities every year, Southern California could become a new branch of that state's great breadbasket.

I would agree with the use of goats to create firebreaks. But I would keep moving them instead of eating them.

Goats make an excellent low impact method of controlling undergrowth. I have been working with a small business for about a year doing just that.

 

[blastoff]

Having a bunch of goats roaming around would surely attrack hordes of horny Muslim men.

On the other side of the what-grows-around-homes-in-fire-threatened-areas coin, I forget now where exactly it happened but there's a well-known aerial photo that appeared in I think Time or Newsweek that showed the aftermath of an area destroyed by fire. Center in it was one home left untouched but surrounded by dozens of others burnt to the ground with nothing left standing but their chimneys. The owner said it survived simply because he violated a local law or rule or whatever against cutting back certain growth common to that area. Don't recall if he had routinely cut it because of its potential threat to his house, or he set about doing it once fire broke out nearby, but cutting it saved his expensive place while his neighbors who refrained from doing so lost everything. The accompanying article mentioned the long arm of the law perhaps coming after him for his violation, but I never heard any follow up about that. In his shoes though I would have done the same thing.

 

[Katzndogz]

Having a bunch of goats roaming around would surely attrack hordes of horny Muslim men.

On the other side of the what-grows-around-homes-in-fire-threatened-areas coin, I forget now where exactly it happened but there's a well-known aerial photo that appeared in I think Time or Newsweek that showed the aftermath of an area destroyed by fire. Center in it was one home left untouched but surrounded by dozens of others burnt to the ground with nothing left standing but their chimneys. The owner said it survived simply because he violated a local law or rule or whatever against cutting back certain growth common to that area. Don't recall if he had routinely cut it because of its potential threat to his house, or he set about doing it once fire broke out nearby, but cutting it saved his expensive place while his neighbors who refrained from doing so lost everything. The accompanying article mentioned the long arm of the law perhaps coming after him for his violation, but I never heard any follow up about that. In his shoes though I would have done the same thing.

A friend of mine had a house up in Crestline. She received a notice from the forestry service to clear away the dead brush from around her cabin. She dutifully cleaned up.

Then she received a notice from the EPA that she had destroyed natural habitat. She was fined $10,000 a day until the habitat was restored and the land returned to its natural condition.

She restored the dead brush and appealed the fine based on the order from the Forestry service. That appeal was pending when, in 2003 the Crestline fire burned her cabin to the ground. Insurance paid off on the structure. She gave the land to the federal government in satisfaction of the fine and counted herself lucky.

 

[blastoff]

Having a bunch of goats roaming around would surely attrack hordes of horny Muslim men.

On the other side of the what-grows-around-homes-in-fire-threatened-areas coin, I forget now where exactly it happened but there's a well-known aerial photo that appeared in I think Time or Newsweek that showed the aftermath of an area destroyed by fire. Center in it was one home left untouched but surrounded by dozens of others burnt to the ground with nothing left standing but their chimneys. The owner said it survived simply because he violated a local law or rule or whatever against cutting back certain growth common to that area. Don't recall if he had routinely cut it because of its potential threat to his house, or he set about doing it once fire broke out nearby, but cutting it saved his expensive place while his neighbors who refrained from doing so lost everything. The accompanying article mentioned the long arm of the law perhaps coming after him for his violation, but I never heard any follow up about that. In his shoes though I would have done the same thing.

A friend of mine had a house up in Crestline. She received a notice from the forestry service to clear away the dead brush from around her cabin. She dutifully cleaned up.

Then she received a notice from the EPA that she had destroyed natural habitat. She was fined $10,000 a day until the habitat was restored and the land returned to its natural condition.

She restored the dead brush and appealed the fine based on the order from the Forestry service. That appeal was pending when, in 2003 the Crestline fire burned her cabin to the ground. Insurance paid off on the structure. She gave the land to the federal government in satisfaction of the fine and counted herself lucky.

Sounds like the left bureaucratic hand didn't know what the right bureaucratic hand was up to, unfortunately at the expense of your friend. Government at its finest, again.

 

[waltky]

Deadly wildfires in California...

Firefighters battle California wildfires, bulldozer operator dies
Wed Jul 27, 2016 - Crews battling a deadly wildfire in rugged, drought-stricken terrain north of Los Angeles made steady progress in containing the blaze on Wednesday, after a bulldozer operator helping to fight a smaller wildfire in central California died overnight when his machine overturned.

Some 3,000 firefighters battling the so-called Sand Fire in the Angeles National Forest extended containment lines around 40 percent of the 38,350-acre (15,520 hectare) blaze by Wednesday morning, according to fire information officer Sam Wu. Lower overnight temperatures aided their efforts, he said. The blaze has destroyed 18 homes as it tears through drought-stricken chaparral and brush, spewing out smoke that prompted the South Coast Air Quality Management District to warn residents in parts of Los Angeles County to avoid outdoor activities. About a dozen exotic animals displaced by the blaze were set to return to an animal sanctuary in the Los Angeles suburb of Sylmar on Wednesday, officials said.

Inmate firefighters file off to construct a fire break while battling the Soberanes Fire in Carmel Highlands, California​

About 300 miles (480 km) to the north, a smaller blaze dubbed the Soberanes Fire continued to threaten some 2,000 properties after destroying 20 homes on Sunday in an area between Big Sur and the scenic coastal town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, officials said. Firefighters were informed about the death of the bulldozer operator, which occurred overnight, before they headed out early on Wednesday, said fire Captain Richard Cordova, a spokesman for the team handling the blaze. "It makes it real what this job is really about and how dangerous it is," Cordova said by phone. Officials said the bulldozer overturned and that the operator was a private contractor. A second bulldozer also overturned while battling the flames, but that operator was uninjured, officials said.

Firefighters from Cal Fire's Fresno-Kings unit set backfire to stop the Soberanes Fire's spread along Palo Colorado Road near Big Sur, California​

The Soberanes Fire has scorched more than 23,500 acres (9,510 hectares) at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest since breaking out on Friday and some 3,080 firefighters had the blaze about 10 percent contained on Wednesday, officials said. In Los Angeles County, the lone fatality in the Sand Fire was identified as Robert Bresnick, 67, whose body was found Saturday inside a burned-out car in a driveway, county officials said. The man refused to leave the area until it was too late. Acting California Governor Tom Torlakson, filling in for Jerry Brown who is at the Democratic National Convention, declared on Tuesday a state of emergency for the counties where the fires are located. The causes of both fires were under investigation.

Firefighters battle California wildfires, bulldozer operator dies

 

[bodecea]

Having a bunch of goats roaming around would surely attrack hordes of horny Muslim men.

On the other side of the what-grows-around-homes-in-fire-threatened-areas coin, I forget now where exactly it happened but there's a well-known aerial photo that appeared in I think Time or Newsweek that showed the aftermath of an area destroyed by fire. Center in it was one home left untouched but surrounded by dozens of others burnt to the ground with nothing left standing but their chimneys. The owner said it survived simply because he violated a local law or rule or whatever against cutting back certain growth common to that area. Don't recall if he had routinely cut it because of its potential threat to his house, or he set about doing it once fire broke out nearby, but cutting it saved his expensive place while his neighbors who refrained from doing so lost everything. The accompanying article mentioned the long arm of the law perhaps coming after him for his violation, but I never heard any follow up about that. In his shoes though I would have done the same thing.

A friend of mine had a house up in Crestline. She received a notice from the forestry service to clear away the dead brush from around her cabin. She dutifully cleaned up.

Then she received a notice from the EPA that she had destroyed natural habitat. She was fined $10,000 a day until the habitat was restored and the land returned to its natural condition.

She restored the dead brush and appealed the fine based on the order from the Forestry service. That appeal was pending when, in 2003 the Crestline fire burned her cabin to the ground. Insurance paid off on the structure. She gave the land to the federal government in satisfaction of the fine and counted herself lucky.

Cool Story, Bro.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Having a bunch of goats roaming around would surely attrack hordes of horny Muslim men.

On the other side of the what-grows-around-homes-in-fire-threatened-areas coin, I forget now where exactly it happened but there's a well-known aerial photo that appeared in I think Time or Newsweek that showed the aftermath of an area destroyed by fire. Center in it was one home left untouched but surrounded by dozens of others burnt to the ground with nothing left standing but their chimneys. The owner said it survived simply because he violated a local law or rule or whatever against cutting back certain growth common to that area. Don't recall if he had routinely cut it because of its potential threat to his house, or he set about doing it once fire broke out nearby, but cutting it saved his expensive place while his neighbors who refrained from doing so lost everything. The accompanying article mentioned the long arm of the law perhaps coming after him for his violation, but I never heard any follow up about that. In his shoes though I would have done the same thing.

A friend of mine had a house up in Crestline. She received a notice from the forestry service to clear away the dead brush from around her cabin. She dutifully cleaned up.

Then she received a notice from the EPA that she had destroyed natural habitat. She was fined $10,000 a day until the habitat was restored and the land returned to its natural condition.

She restored the dead brush and appealed the fine based on the order from the Forestry service. That appeal was pending when, in 2003 the Crestline fire burned her cabin to the ground. Insurance paid off on the structure. She gave the land to the federal government in satisfaction of the fine and counted herself lucky.

Cool Story, Bro.

and thats what it is.....

 

[waltky]

Containment lines around 26 percent of the Blue Cut fire...

Firefighters gain ground on Southern California wildfire
Saturday 20th August, 2016 - Firefighters were gaining ground on Friday against a wildfire burning in a Southern California mountain pass that forced tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes and consumed dozens of structures.

The Blue Cut fire, named for a narrow gorge near its origin in the Cajon Pass about 75 miles (120 km) northeast of Los Angeles, has blackened 37,000 acres (14,973 hectares) of drought-parched heavy brush and chaparral after breaking out on Tuesday. Officials said firefighters were able to carve containment lines around 26 percent of the blaze as of Friday morning - up from 4 percent a day earlier - in dry, hot and windy weather conditions and treacherous terrain. On Friday, damage assessment teams in the field were tallying the number of homes and other buildings destroyed in the blaze, fire information officer Mike Lopez said.

A firefighter hoses down a hot spot at the Blue Cut Fire on August 17, 2016 near Wrightwood, California. An unknown number of homes and businesses have burned and more than 80,000 people are under evacuation orders as the out-of-control wildfire spread beyond 30,000 acres and threatens to expand into the ski resort town of Wrightwood.​

A San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman said earlier this week that dozens of structures were destroyed. The intensely burning blaze, which has produced cyclone-like whirls of flame, continued to threaten some 34,500 homes and other structures in communities including the ski resort town of Wrightwood, fire officials said. More than 80,000 residents were told to evacuate their homes on Tuesday. While many residents opted to stay put, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said deputies arrested three people suspected of attempting to loot from the abandoned homes of evacuees.

Transit authorities on Thursday reopened Interstate 15, the primary traffic route between greater Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada, after it was closed for two days by the fast-moving blaze. The Blue Cut fire is one of nearly 30 major blazes reported to have scorched some hundreds of square miles in eight Western states this week, in the midst of a wildfire season stoked by prolonged drought and unusually hot weather, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Firefighters gain ground on Southern California wildfire

See also:

More people go home as progress made against California fire
Saturday 20th August, 2016 - More people returned to their homes Friday as firefighters made significant progress against a huge wildfire burning in Southern California's San Bernardino National Forest, but that was tempered by the announcement that at least 96 homes and 213 outbuildings were destroyed.

Johanna Santore was among those left homeless. She was running an errand Tuesday when the fire charged through her neighbourhood. She tried to rush home to rescue the family's four dogs, six cats and hamster but was blocked by closed roads. Frantic for answers, she posted messages about her pets on Facebook. A group of animal rescue volunteers saw her pleas and offered to check on the animals. They found the house in smouldering ruins - with no signs of the pets. "I'm actually feeling numb," said Santore, who fled with her husband and granddaughter to an evacuation centre. "It's like a nightmare." Thousands of residents chased from their mountain and desert homes were slowly beginning to take stock of their losses as the preliminary damage assessment was released for the blaze that erupted Tuesday in drought-parched canyons 97 kilometres east of Los Angeles.

Firefighters initially struggled to get the towering flames under control but later made dramatic progress in corralling the fire that scorched nearly 150 square kilometres and was 40 per cent contained. Plans were underway to demobilize some of the nearly 1,600 firefighters. "It's looking very good, we took the offensive last night into today," fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said. He said the number of destroyed homes and buildings could have been much higher for such a powerful fire. Katie and Johnathon Havens piled their 1-year-old son and teacup Chihuahua into their RV as flames neared. The Havens thought they had lost everything when a map of the fire was released. They later discovered their house was intact after they were able to access a camera they had placed inside the home. "It's very comforting to know the house is still there," Katie Havens said. "I'm pretty sure we're going to go back and have neighbours who don't have homes anymore. The community is never going to be the same."

A prolonged drought has transformed swaths of California into tinderboxes, ready to ignite. Several other wildfires were burning in the state, including a blaze in rural Santa Barbara County that prompted the evacuation of a pair of campgrounds. In the southern Sierra Nevada, another blaze feeding on dense timber in Sequoia National Forest forced the evacuation of several tiny hamlets. In mountains north of San Francisco, a 15-square-kilometre blaze was 75 per cent contained after destroying 299 structures, including 175 homes and eight businesses, in the working-class community of Lower Lake. All evacuation orders have been cancelled. At the height of the fire east of Los Angeles, some 82,000 people were under evacuation orders. A small number of residents have been allowed to return home, but fire officials could not say when all the evacuations would be lifted. No deaths have been reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation. Crews continued to sift through burned regions to tally the damage.

Michelle Keeney took a double-whammy hit. Not only did the fire level her house, but it also engulfed the Summit Inn, a popular Route 66 diner where she was the general manager. "I was in utter disbelief," said Keeney, who managed to salvage her father's silver ID bracelet and an antique gun he had from the Second World War. Max Torres didn't know whether his house was safe until he and his wife returned Thursday night. A decade ago, another wildfire narrowly missed the couple's home. "They saved our house last time. They saved everything," he said. "And they did it again." The Santores weren't as lucky. Volunteers who drove to their house found a moonscape. Some of the neighbours' homes were still standing, seemingly intact. Before the fire roared through, Johanna Santore had redecorated her granddaughter's room in a zebra pattern and added a loft bed. "We don't plan on rebuilding," she said. "We plan on leaving."

More people go home as progress made against California fire

 

[ShootSpeeders]

Most of these forest fires are set by illegals. Let's enforce our laws and kick out these sub-human invaders.

 

[Old Rocks]

You know Tippsy, I think that you have been tipping that bottle a bit too much. The ranchers depend on BLM land for their herds. But in a drought, they have to cut back on the number of cows per section, so they do not destroy the grazing land. That is common sense. And when you get assholes like the Bundy's that don't give a damn about conserving the land, you simply have to remove their grazing rights, and give them to someone that is a bit smarter.

Have you explained why we have acres of dead and untouched forage that is the cause of these massive wildfires?

Maybe because there are no ranches in that area? Too rough for cows, good for goats.

 

[Moonglow]

Goats will not eat everything that grows, animals like the sweet grade grasses and plants the most, those that are bitter they will not eat..

 

[WinterBorn]

Most of these forest fires are set by illegals. Let's enforce our laws and kick out these sub-human invaders.

And the source for this claim?