[Marxism] Fire

[Hunter Gray]

NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR:

Given the sad events of this fall and our preceding summer, there is a good deal of broad interest in Western forest/brush fire situations. While a few may have seen our large webpage on the general situation, most probably have not. That Link follows. I personally tend to write primarily -- whatever the topic -- from direct personal experience and observation. Much of my life has been spent in Western mountain country and I do know a good deal first-hand about fighting forest fires. While I don't know much at all about the western California situations, I am aware that extremely rapid expansion of the human population into heavily timbered and/or brushy regions -- almost in a crazy-quilt quasi-checkerboard fashion -- is a part of the problem faced there. But there are others, perhaps more unique to that specific region than, say, Northern Arizona or Idaho or Montana or New Mexico. Some years ago, one of my oldest friends -- and, in the old days, a long-time colleague in direct forest fire fighting -- was sent from Northern Arizona into a California situation. He has described it to me many times as the most chaotic experience he ever had fighting fire -- extremely poor and confused inter-agency coordination and a frequent lack of "outdoors" experience by many of the ostensible fire fighters who often came from purely urban backgrounds. [Of course, a few of these recent California situations have, as they've gone along, become "urban fires" as well.] In the mess of some years ago described to me by my friend -- yet again as recently as a phone conversation a few weeks ago -- that crisis was solved only when another old friend of both of us from Northern Arizona -- a highly experienced fire dispatcher, fire boss, and fire fighter generally was rushed into that California mess as the top operational commander. In fast due course, that took care of things.

Anyway, here is our website Link:

http://hunterbear.org/forest_fires_in_the_west.htm
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis 
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk 
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´ 
and Ohkwari' 

Check out our Hunterbear social justice website: www.hunterbear.org
[The site is dedicated to our one-half Bobcat, Cloudy Gray: 
http://hunterbear.org/cloudy_gray.htm

And see Outlaw Trail: The Native as Organizer: http://hunterbear.org/outlaw_trail1.htm