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Fire-Fighting Hype Vs Reality
POLITICALLY-CHARGED ACCUSATIONS WON’T FIGHT FIRES…THESE MEASURES WILL. In the wake of the latest round of CA wildfires, there are three categories of information floating around: A) Right-wing hype (Gov-blaming, “lack of water & rakes”, DEI-hires) B) Reality: Climate-change fueled weather patterns and Santa Ana winds, homes and power in remote places, localized water-shortage, difficulties in quickly ramping-up firefighting forces and C) Emerging fire-fighting measures, including better zoning, underground or localized power, night-fighting Chinook helicopters, computer-controlled dousing techniques.
The MAGA hype machine is once again in full-force during the latest tragic California wildfires…Trump and others bashing Gov. Newsom over an alleged lack of water delivery from Northern to Southern CA, and an inability to remove forest undergrowth. Never mind the fact that firefighters state that 1) base water supply is not an issue, and that the $20 Billion, Trump-approved, California Water Fix (Delta Conveyance Project) is already slated to provide more North-South water delivery, and 2) This is a brushfire, not prone to the “forest fire fueled by undergrowth” problem, and 3) Damaging fires are not just a California problem…Canada, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere are seeing the same problems. Self-proclaimed fire-experts such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville are even threatening to withhold disaster…
