PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
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Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#2It seems like an odd quirk of liability law that all of the fire damage is blamed on PG+E if the initial spark that started the fire was PG+E’s fault. Surely some blame lies elsewhere as well. I think homeowners need to be paying fire insurance costs proportional to fire risk to properly incentivize fire protection (and I say this as a California homeowner in a somewhat fire prone area).
In the end, PG+E is regulated so heavily that any costs they pay will basically just be passed on to consumers. The solution to the increased fire risk is not “blame PG+E”.
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#3I want to know if backburning is a common practice in California, or in the USA at all.
In Australia a big part of a Firey's job is running controlled burns in the (relatively) low fire risk season to keep the amount of flammable material around cities and property to a minimum.
It is a continuation, in a way, of a much more ancient indiginous practice of regularly burning large swathes of bush. It is very much a part of the natural ecosystem here.
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#4It seems like an odd quirk of liability law that all of the fire damage is blamed on PG+E if the initial spark that started the fire was PG+E’s fault. Surely some blame lies elsewhere as well. I think homeowners need to be paying fire insurance costs proportional to fire risk to properly incentivize fire protection (and I say this as a California homeowner in a somewhat fire prone area). In the end, PG+E is regulated…
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Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#5This is your veto-proof Democrat Monopoly over California politics.
Democrats value people over corporations!
Keep resisting.
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#6This is your veto-proof Democrat Monopoly over California politics. Democrats value people over corporations! Keep resisting.
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Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#7I want to know if backburning is a common practice in California, or in the USA at all. In Australia a big part of a Firey's job is running controlled burns in the (relatively) low fire risk season to keep the amount of flammable material around cities and property to a minimum. It is a continuation, in a way, of a much more ancient indiginous practice of regularly burning large swathes of bush. It is very much a par…
It happens a fair amount here in the hills of Southern California, although at a much smaller scale than I understand happens down under. The goal here seems to be to burn out a buffer around homes rather than using fire to manage the whole forest.
The flora is quite different, too — a coastal live oak takes way longer to grow back than a eucalyptus (and is also less ridiculously flammable when established). So burning huge swaths here would generally not be a great thing.
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#8I want to know if backburning is a common practice in California, or in the USA at all. In Australia a big part of a Firey's job is running controlled burns in the (relatively) low fire risk season to keep the amount of flammable material around cities and property to a minimum. It is a continuation, in a way, of a much more ancient indiginous practice of regularly burning large swathes of bush. It is very much a par…
So controlled burns are definitely done, but it's difficult. There's issues with air quality after a burn, waiting for ideal conditions, and sometimes even losing control of the burns. Don't know how that compares with Australia.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/california-will-se...
https://www.kqed.org/science/1927354/controlled-burns-can-he...
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#9I want to know if backburning is a common practice in California, or in the USA at all. In Australia a big part of a Firey's job is running controlled burns in the (relatively) low fire risk season to keep the amount of flammable material around cities and property to a minimum. It is a continuation, in a way, of a much more ancient indiginous practice of regularly burning large swathes of bush. It is very much a par…
99% Invisible has some amazing episodes on this topic. Apparently controlled burns used to be a tjing, until society collectively decided all wildfire is bad and started the abstinence approach of sorts. As a result fires are a little less frequent, but much much much bigger when they do happen.
And they’ve been happening more and more anyway.
Wildfire is a natural part of the ecosystem in CA as well. Forests need it to stay healthy and clear the underbrush. But humans decided fire is bad because we like to live in fire areas.
Re: PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by lawmakers in wake of lethal fires
#10I want to know if backburning is a common practice in California, or in the USA at all. In Australia a big part of a Firey's job is running controlled burns in the (relatively) low fire risk season to keep the amount of flammable material around cities and property to a minimum. It is a continuation, in a way, of a much more ancient indiginous practice of regularly burning large swathes of bush. It is very much a par…
Im a wldland firefighter from the northern Rockies, just returned from a deployment to the Woolsey incident (LA and Ventura counties).
Yes, prescribed burns are common in the off season for all fire districts. However, CalFire has some unique challenges [1] that most of the other states do not have to deal with when it comes to air quality and sufficient water conditions during their shrinking off season. https://www.kqed.org/science/1927354/controlled-burns-can-he...