Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Alien face huggers found in Russia | Main | Clinton is Mudslinging »
November 19, 2007

California Fires: The Blame Game Begins

California firefighters did an excellent job combating the wildfires in October. They had the help of the National Guard, the Navy, and the Marines to contain and extinguish 21 fires in difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions. Now that the fires are out (the last was put out November 9th), some folks just can't help but start assigning blame.

Here's the story. I'll tell you what it says, and then tell you the important things it left out.

Some lawmakers and military officials have claimed that California "did not effectively marshal all its available air resources" to end the fires. Two charges are made, the first explicit, the second implied. First, the AP believes that high winds did not ground aircraft during the first two days of the fires. Instead, they imply that California officials blamed high winds so as to cover up their own unpreparedness.

In large part, the article places the blame for grounded Marine and Navy helicopters on a California regulation that requires state fire spotters to be on board to manage the aircraft. It also questions the judgment of state fire officials who chose to keep some aircraft in reserve in other parts of the state in case new fires began.

Mike Padilla, aviation chief for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, tries to defend:

The state has determined it had enough spotters for the helicopters it knew were available but had to scramble to find spotters for the Marine and some of the Navy helicopters because it wasn't expecting them, Padilla said.

"When we found out how many military and Marine helicopters were available, we put in orders and began trying to find qualified managers that weren't already assigned," he said.

The article concludes by noting that the rule requiring state fire spotters was dropped, but not until almost 2,000 homes had burned. And just in case you didn't get the message, here's the last paragraph:

Three years ago, a state firefighting panel said it should be a "high priority" to find ways to quickly get military helicopters and planes airborne during fast-moving wildfires.

Now, here's what they left out. The state firefighting panel referenced was convened after the October 2003 fires in Southern California. That same panel recommended the state fire spotter rule because the lack of coordination between state and military air resources led to wasteful duplication of effort and in a few cases endangered aircraft during that fire.

The rule was instituted in order to more efficiently and safely combat fires. It is to their credit that state fire officials waived the rule after it became apparent that it was more of a hindrance than a help. Second-guessing the timing and manner in which decisions were made in the heat of the moment is shameful and counterproductive; no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Incidentally, one of those lawmakers who criticized the state fire spotter rule was Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter.

"I'd give a very high grade to this operation," Hunter said. He said that while the rule about having trained "fire spotters" on military choppers should be changed, state firefighting officials waived it after he and others talked to them early in the week, and it might not have made much of a difference anyway.

Also, the revelation that the Marines and Navy had so many helicopters to offer California that it didn't know what to do with all of them reveals Nancy Pelosi as a liar. She claimed that that fire operations were hampered because too many resources were committed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Surprise, surprise: it turns out the opposite was true.


digg this
posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:26 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
kallisto: "What is Milo on about now? This guy is jumping ..."

ShainS -- I heard that James Carville is a Scientologist as well as Pederast [/b][/i][/s][/u] : "On terms of total dollars extracted from The Peopl ..."

Just Lily : "Clinton and his wife had the FBI deliver to them t ..."

davidt: "179 177 Speaking of bitch slapping, did I read Kam ..."

18-1: "[i]And he's probably not thinking about it all, bu ..."

Lizzy: "This is one of those times where it’s actual ..."

Ex Rex Reeder: "You don't hire hitman Abbe Lowell as your lawyer i ..."

Frank Barone: " I can't believe how badly Chuck Todd ran that sh ..."

Dennis Hastert: "Joe's big failure was not knowing when to quit. ..."

AlaBAMA: "177 Speaking of bitch slapping, did I read Kamala ..."

13times: "Of course a loving father should protect his SOLE ..."

Field Marshal Zhukov: "Speaking of bitch slapping, did I read Kamala and ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64