jlabhart@gmail.com | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Member since Jul 2, 2012

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  • Posted by:
    [email protected] on 09/30/2022 at 11:47 AM
    Good story, Jack. I feel like the primary reason we are now getting mega-fires is the USFS hands off approach to fighting fire. Often "safety" and "climate change" are noted for the reasons fires are getting bigger, but I think we need balance the cons of these fires, like the monetary cost, the harmful effect of the smoke on population, and not to mention the effect on our local economies. The USFS doesn't actively fight fires in the wilderness, nor to they fight fire at night when the fires are calmer and more easily put out, sighting "safety", again. I feel like this fire could have been put out in the early stages with a few retardent drops, but the USFS will probably say because of environmental reasons, they couldn't drop on this fire. Just look at the evironmental cost now - more carbon has been put into the atmosphere from this fire than an entire year of cars driving in Portland!