Opal Creek to remain closed as Beachie Creek Fire is 0 percent contained, frustrating some
“People can coexist with fire, and I’m really bothered by these massive closures on public lands,” he said. “It’s an overreaction that further separates people from a totally natural and very beneficial part of the forest. These closures make people scared of all wildfires and fuels this ‘all or nothing’ approach that says, ‘we have to put this fire out or we’ll keep you out.’”
Walbridge fire tests resolve of Mill Creek residents, provides vision of future in forests parched by climate change
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics & Ecology, said increasing fire danger means these simultaneous wildfire outbreaks are likely to occur again. He believes communities must prepare to defend themselves, maintain their forests and replenish the aging ranks of volunteer community fire companies. “When you’ve got air temperatures over 100 degrees, day after day — that’s almost half the boiling point of water — everything is ready to burn,” Ingalsbee said. “The tiniest little ember sparks its own fire and these fires are just leap-frogging each other. They spread so fast firefighters can’t anchor, flank and hold.”
'Cadillac insurance'? Hunt for private firefighters as California burns
Ingalsbee said he is alarmed by the rise of “Cadillac” insurance plans for wealthy people which include bespoke fire emergency response. “It’s for wealthy homes – the insurance company doesn’t want to pay for loss – so it’s cheaper for them to hire a crew and an engine,” he explained. “But they don’t defend the whole neighborhood or city block, that’s not their mission.” Ingalsbee is concerned about a future where access to firefighting resources is increasingly determined by income, or insurance policies. “It comes at the expenses of the public sphere,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s good for our communities.”
The West is burning, so California struggles to find help fighting its wildfires
A June memo from the U.S. Forest Service Chief stressed the policy and put it in the pandemic context, as a strategy to put fires out quickly to limit crews’ exposure to COVID-19 while in the field. That has meant crews are busy on almost every fire, even those that might be observed and allowed to burn. To Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the Oregon-based group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, it’s a misguided approach. “It’s not humanly possible to put out all fires,” he said. “We need to focus on the fires that really matter, to save lives and homes, and shift resources to them. The future is to safely manage wildfires, to steer them. You don’t need hundreds of firefighters to do that.”
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?
“The fire community, the progressives, are almost in a state of panic,” Ingalsbee said. There’s only one solution, the one we know yet still avoid. “We need to get good fire on the ground and whittle down some of that fuel load. You won’t find any climate deniers on the fire line.”
Bighorn fire: Questions raised about effectiveness of flame retardant used against wildfires
It was good for Hunter to acknowledge the retardant didn’t stop the fire on its own, said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, of Eugene, Oregon. “It’s one of many tools, but an expensive tool, with extensive environmental impacts. That was an amazing amount of retardant, a phenomenal amount,” Ingalsbee said of the 358,000 gallons. “This sure smells like a retardant bombing boondoggle.”
Op-Ed | Why you shouldn’t visit a National Park this summer
“Firefighters are essential but not expendable” says Michael Beasley of Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology. The group has been helping push a bill in Congress to grant workman’s comp claims to firefighters who get covid19 on the job. The Trump Interior department has been denying such claims. Senator Tom Udall and others introduced a bill to protect firefighters this week.
Cerro Grande Fire remains burned into New Mexico's memory 20 years later
“They didn’t have enough people,” said Tom Ribe of Santa Fe, author of the 2010 book Inferno by Committee, which recounts the Cerro Grande Fire with a critical eye. “They needed to have two or three times the people on the prescribed fire from Day One.” Those overseeing the fire were in a hurry to get it done, which led to errors in judgment, said Ribe, a longtime public lands advocate.