Today’s political news - Part 7

“Opinion: How to prevent deadly wildfires? Stop fighting fires.”

I understood it and I disagree.  Here’s some facts from Sonoma, Napa & Lake counties.

2017 in a space of two days three separate fires started burning in Sonoma & Napa Counties.  It took about three weeks to contain these fires.

The Tubbs fire burned 37,807 acres.  Destroyed 5,636 buildings.  Majority were homes.  There were 22 fatalities.

The Atlas Fire burned 51,624 acres.  Destroyed 1,355 buildings.  There were 3 fatalities.

The Pocket Fire burned 17,357 acres.  Destroyed 6 buildings.  There were no fatalities.

This was three fires burning in relatively small area. In other words the three fires were separate but close to each other.  Total acreage burned 91,168.  Total buildings burned that were mostly homes 6,997.  Sadly 25 people died.

But wait there is more.  

In 2019 Sonoma County had the Kincade Fire.  It burned a total acreage of 77,758 acres again in the northeast part of the county.  374 buildings burned and there were no fatalities.  However after the Tubbs Fire the officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for 180,000 residents.

And there is more…

In 2020 there was the Glass fire burning again in the northeast part of the county again by Santa Rosa. And burning in parts of Napa County as well.  This fire burned 67,484 acres and destroyed 1,555 buildings.  No fatalities.

So tell me, which of these fires should they have just let burn and making no attempt to stop it?

Yes all these fires threaten and actually burned parts of towns and cities.  That Tubbs fire literally took out entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa as did the Glass Fire in 2020.

There are very few wildfires at this point in time that are not impacting cities and towns someplace.  So they can’t say oh just let them burn because it’s good for the forest.

And yes Sonoma County is hardening areas that they can and doing controlled burns.  But this is an agricultural county which means a lot of plants and trees and vineyards.

What is happening here is playing out, with differences, across the state, the West and other parts of this country and the rest of the world.  And very few areas can afford to let a wildfire burn.

So yeah I disagree with that.

😀