Thursday
Week is flying by, which is a good thing.
Well look, the biggest news around here is still the fire, actually more than one fire is burning in this state. But the Wallow fire is the biggest news, considering it's enormity and apparently grasping the attention of the nation.
I was surprised to learn that the 747 super tanker was just now scheduled to be brought in. I mean, they don't make 'em bigger than that. I have seen the 747 Evergreen plane parked at the Mesa/Phoenix Gateway airport on numerous occasions. http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/index.html
Take a look at THAT thing spewing out fire retardant! Who'da thought they would ever be able to use an aircraft that large in that capacity? Not me!
Fire officials are still fearing the possibility of any one of a number of small, mountain towns possibly being burned up and several of them have been completely evacuated. This is crazy stuff going on up there - and it just happens that this is definitely not the rainy season. If it was, this fire would not be an issue, the forests would be soaked and fire control would be easy.
It makes the point to ban camp fires completely. There are too many idiots going up there that don't give a hootinanny's holler about whether they trash the natural beauty of our forests or not. Go up there and find trash and beer cans laying all over the place. It's not surprising that some moron left a campfire unattended and burning, a BIG no-no, something I learned as a little kid in the cub scouts, much less going on frequent camping trips with my family.
I imagine a push to ban open fires is going to come at this point. It's ridiculous. Go buy a camp stove and cook on that thing, you want to sit around a campfire and sing songs, tough, it only takes a few instances like this to figure out that there are too many know-nothings going up there that don't have a clue.
I mean, really. I learned at a very young age that you smother fires with dirt if you don't have water and you stick around and keep smothering it until you are absolutely sure the fire is out. Not just the fire, the hot coals that feed it from underneath. Smother it or drench it, but get it all the way out.
I used to think everyone knew this, but experience over the last several decades proved otherwise. Coming upon smoldering camp fires with no one around and obviously not coming back. It really ticked me off, though, when I started seeing dozens of beer bottles and cans in otherwise pristine forest laying all over the ground.
Well, whatever. The work day is almost here and I must be offa here.
ben
No comments:
Post a Comment