Fire! Update for San diego County.. great map!

[Hibernicus]

A pretty good map showing the extent of the fires and the evac areas, plus comparison to similalry large fire in 2003

http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/multim ... 0fireweek/

The number of deaths directly related to the fire has increased... most deaths are illegal aliens including a group that used the fires near Tecate to cover their attempt to enter the US illegally including some who were returning to work or in the case of the most recent death: a 29 year old woman returning to her home in the US where her 4 children live.

A few hundred people still living in hotels. I'm taking a road trip in a few days to take a look, maybe take a photo or two.

And you ought to hear the whiners and not-my-faulters and politicians and enviro-nuts and NIMBYites and open borderers yammering for attention! Good grief.

And in case you haven't heard: its all Bush's fault.

Sean / Hiberncius

[Robert Vermaat]

And in case you haven't heard: its all Bush's fault.

Isn't that why they call it "bushfires"? :wink:

[M. Demetrius]

I read there was a law passed last year that mandated clearing deadwood and obvious combustibles from National Forests, but that several groups filed some 20 federal lawsuits to prevent implementation, stating it would ruin the natural habitat of several small mammal species in the forest. Maybe I really am dense, but I'm of the opinion that a forest fire does a lot more harm to the animal habitat than clearing out deadwood and dry brush.

[Hibernicus]

Part of the problem is the Cleveland National Forest in So Calif. It's a hodgepodge of territory with 100's of small parcels within the Forest that are in private hands.. the border is also a saw tooth edges of chaos! Some joke that if the private prop holders made the minumum clearance that the Forest would disappear!

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I heard it said that if the scrub and dead wood is cleared, it prevents the natural process of clearing the woods of deadwood and diseased trees, ie forests fires...... hock: :roll:

[M. Demetrius]

That's true, of course. Trouble is, people live near the forests, and the fires also clear the residential areas of houses, cars, and people's livelihoods.

[Hibernicus]

Of course "forest" in many parts of So Calif is a kind of misnomer... one usually thinks of trees.... not bushes...

Hib