Public Comment

Wistfulness Should Be Outrage

By Linda Rollins
Friday August 30, 2013 - 11:00:00 AM

The wistful story about the family camp in the Sierras was nauseating. Governor Brown and Cal Fire let this fire burn out of control so the Governor could declare a state of emergency and get federal funds for the fire. Even Cal Fire employees are disgusted with the idiotic philosophy that fires should be allowed to burn for weeks or months. This is an outdated notion. Fires should be controlled immediately to prevent loss of life, livelihood, precious camps, forests, pets, wildlife, and property. It's criminal to let fires become infernos. Disgusting. 

Cal Fire allows fires to become out of control. This is wrong. Fires should be doused with water the second they start, no foot-dragging or excuses, and no old theories about how forest fires are good for forests. What's good about losing our precious resources and opening mountains to erosion and logging. What is good about dumping thousands of tons of fire retardant chemicals into streams and rivers? 

Has anyone thought about the fact that industries or companies that make fire retardant chemicals profit from increased fires? That might just be enough motivation to start big fires. Fires should be doused with water from lakes, not fire retardant. Take the profit out of burning our forests. 

Tell Jerry Brown how you feel about him allowing blazes to become infernos in order to get federal dollars from state of emergencies. 

Apple pie nostalgia is ignorance. The same men who use faulty bolts on the new Bay Bridge are clones of the men who run Cal Fire and the Governor's office. There is no difference. But putting women in these positions would lead to use of the entire human brain including the empathy center to prevent or solve these catastrophic failures. Studies have proven that women's brains are different than men's and that more areas of the white matter are involved in problem solving than our male counterparts. MRI's don't lie.