comment to article below - "As
someone who fought forest fires in British Columbia for five years, I
have to say that this sort of tragedy would never happen in Canada. We
always worked with the utmost caution: no one should ever die to save
trees and homes. The sort-of gung-ho militarized nature of US
firefighting is unnecessary and ultimately dangerous."
After the Big Burn of 1910, which consumed three million acres in a
weekend, the Forest Service became the fire service — a protector of
woods and cabins rather than a mere steward of the great public land
domain. Now almost 40 percent of the Forest Service budget is given over
to firefighting. Decisions on which fires to battle often come down to
how many homes are in a given area.
