The eyes of the nation turned to Santa Cruz County this weekend as the Lockheed Fire raged through the brush. CNN focused on the drought and winds, while USA Today described the rugged terrain that has complicated firefighting efforts. The Wall Street Journal discussed the cost of fighting wildfires in cash-strapped California, which approached almost $1 billion in 2007 alone (figures for 2008 are still being calculated). The paper added that in addition to a professional team of 26,000 firefighters, in an emergency the state could also call on 4,000 trained prison inmates, who would receive $1 an hour to fight the flames. Even when news stations in other cities lumped all of California’s eleven wildfires together, as KETV of Omaha did, the Lockheed Fire tended to climb to the top of the list, with dramatic shots of firefighters spraying the flames from the land and the air, while rescuing people, animals, and homes.
Until this morning, that is. With the 7,000-acre fire more than half contained, public attention wandered across the country to Pensacola, Florida, where the season’s first tropical storm has struck.
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RWCleveland Tue, Aug 18, 2009 - 12:02 am
As the father of a 20 year old member of a hot shot crew out of Cedar City,Utah, I have an interest in this wildfire in that my son and his fellow hot shot crew members have been dealing with everything from sweltering heat, working on terrain with slope angles sometimes of 7o degrees, hard enough to stand on let alone for 10 hr shifts dealing with hazardous conditions of the area, including horrendous poison oak brush that these people are breathing in as well as having to deal with the effects of contact with the rest of their bodies, to sleeping on a remote beach area for days at a time only with their essential gear, waking to the fog that has come inland and has soaked them and their belongings during the night. I for one am so grateful to these hearty, strong, young people who get maybe 4 hours of sleep, keeping themselves feed on MRE’s that are full of protein yet might gag a dog, and they wake up early and do this day after day! Ultra appreciated is what they should be by those residents whose homes they protect, doing the majority of the work before the fire even is dealt with by engine crews parked and ready around structures (homes,etc.) nestled in these beautiful locations in the hilly country of California. Maybe the press should give a little more attention to the ones who are in the thick of it, putting their lives on the line to save peoples properties, who desire to live in prestigious, locations that are tinderboxes during drought time or in times of plentiful water from rainfall. Californians, yes you pay for these heroes to be their, but money alone cannot show the praise these men and women deserve. Just a little FYI from a father of one who’s son is helping to make your lives a little safer. God bless the fire fighters everywhere!