Why are they fighting the wild fires in california?

Question

shouldn't the enviromentalists be protesting this action. forest fires are a natural thing. so the fires should burn as long as nature lets it burn right?if we are going to be green lets be green 100% not just when we feel like it.

Answer 1

Good point - wildfires really do need to burn to kill the diseased trees out of an area.  Unfortunately so many people have moved out into the woods that the fire now endangers all sorts of real estate.  

The government is not yet ready to let people's houses burn.  They burn anyway, but we have to make a show of putting out the fires.

Answer 2

My thought is we should put out the fires and then LOG THE FORESTS.

Answer 3

i'm sure the environmental wackos are protesting...they think that the environment is more important than people...PEOPLE COME FIRST...and second, the environmental wackos are the reason that the fires are there in the first place...if they would let people clear the dead brush out of the forests then it wouldn't catch on fire and burn the rest of the forest with it...how many wild fires do you see in the southeast...not a whole lot...why? because there is a minimal amount of dead brush there to catch on fire because people down there are smart and prevent the fires unlike the environmental wackos out west

Answer 4

The "let it burn" policy was tried in the late 1980's-early 1990's.  There were a few mammoth fires in highly visible places like Yellowstone.

People, especially enviromnentalists at the time, completely freaked and the policy was deemed unacceptable politically.

A real shame that people are incapable of seeing big, long term pictures.  It would only take a few decades to dramatically return the forests to a more natural state and hugely reduce the number of major fires.

Answer 5

some people live near were the forest fires are, so it's eithier no forest fire or dead people. if the fire is small and not endangering humans, we usually don't fight it

Answer 6

Actually a lot of those forest fires are caused by human errors, like cigarettes or camp fires that weren't put out.

Also, since there are so few woods left (They've been turned into lumber if you haven't noticed or cleared for developing)  we should protect those lands.

Answer 7

They do it to protect homes and lives.

Answer 8

You are either smoking some green stuff,

or sniffing some green stuff or shooting

some green stuff.

  In any event, you are making very little sense.

  How about if you are in the house in front

of the fire, would you want anyone to help

you? or just let you and house burn up?

  All you are doing is ranting against

environmentalists.

Answer 9

Biologists (environmentalists) are the ones that do controlled burns so that natural fires do not get out of control and harm people and structures.  Also, MANY of the recent fires in California have been started by arsonists....nothing natural about that.  If you want to let fires burn...lets start being green by setting your house on fire!

Answer 10

I agree withn helios

Answer 11

I tried making that point last week. Prior to about 1880 we made no attempt to put out forest fires nor had the technology we do today. In modern times a million acres may burn but 5 times that would have burned without man fighting the fires with new technology. There are more trees today than 100 years ago because of that. Humans have died trying to save these trees and the wackos don't appreciate it. Good question but they won't get it.

Answer 12

Fires spread to wildlife, surrounding homes and people.