Florida Is On Fire
Jun. 15th, 2011 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stI would like to apologize to the residents of South Carolina as, apparently, they are smelling our smoke.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/15/florida.wildfires/
A news release this morning said that all 100 Central Florida fires are contained. But the firefighters are crossing county lines and working like dogs to stay on top of this situation. They are underpaid, under appreciated dogs who haven't had a raise in 10 years and are constantly derided in the media by the governor who wants to thank them for their ceaseless efforts. I'm sure we are all grateful to Gov. Rick Scott for coming out to thank these few remaining government employees as they risk their lives and lungs to save the homes of people who don't want to pay them a decent wage or see them have proper medical care or retirement.
Yesterday, we had a ten-minute downpour, bracketed by about 30 minutes of lightning strikes, and the sirens started up immediately as the firefighters rushed to put out about 20 new fires. I can't begin to imagine the conditions in the thick of the forests surrounding my city. The smoke outside right now is like London pea soup fog and asthmatics like myself need to stay indoors with the air filters on high.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/15/florida.wildfires/
A news release this morning said that all 100 Central Florida fires are contained. But the firefighters are crossing county lines and working like dogs to stay on top of this situation. They are underpaid, under appreciated dogs who haven't had a raise in 10 years and are constantly derided in the media by the governor who wants to thank them for their ceaseless efforts. I'm sure we are all grateful to Gov. Rick Scott for coming out to thank these few remaining government employees as they risk their lives and lungs to save the homes of people who don't want to pay them a decent wage or see them have proper medical care or retirement.
Yesterday, we had a ten-minute downpour, bracketed by about 30 minutes of lightning strikes, and the sirens started up immediately as the firefighters rushed to put out about 20 new fires. I can't begin to imagine the conditions in the thick of the forests surrounding my city. The smoke outside right now is like London pea soup fog and asthmatics like myself need to stay indoors with the air filters on high.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:24 pm (UTC)You, and AZ & NM... Scary.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:33 pm (UTC)If you zoom out on this map of the Wallow fire to see the country, we also got bigass fires in Colorado, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and passel of smaller ones in Texas.
Though, for something like wild fires, I should probably use a less cute term than "passel". What's the group term for wildfires? A bevy? A destruction? An unkindness (like ravens)?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 11:01 pm (UTC)Again, I do blame the stingy taxpayers for failing to fund the fire service well enough to cover this sort of emergency. I only hope they will be happy when the Republicans get there way and we all have to pay a monthly fee to get fireman to come when we call them.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 11:59 pm (UTC)The incident you refer to, it was pretty fucked up... but ones to blame were the county. They had this county with three times the population of this tiny little town, and none of the bigger towns would even offer to come. There was no way this little town could support fire service to the whole unincorporated county... and if the firefighters had disobeyed orders and fought the fire, not only would they possibly be fired, if they were hurt of killed, they wouldn't have any kind of insurance for it. (Like disability or life insurance.) And in order to fight a fire like that, you have to go in the house -- it would have been risky. And there were no humans inside. So I can't blame them for putting their own lives -- and their obligations to their family to not die and leave them with nothing -- on the line.
I am sorry for pets that died, and I think it's a scandal that that county wouldn't get fire insurance... but I can't blame that town (NOT wealthy) for saying, "We can't carry a county three times our size," or the firefighters for not acting.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 12:30 am (UTC)I don't believe most taxpayers understand that they really do not want to pay for government services in a "competetive" market. It is far, far better to have us all pay collectively for services like this. As your story illustrates, actually, pretty well.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 12:41 am (UTC)We really, really don't. Privatize anything = more expensive AND lower quality. They can't make the profits they want with "efficiency."
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:57 pm (UTC)http://www.wesh.com/video/28248914/detail.html
You can see a good look at what we have here around 2:38 and on. This 1200 acre fire is burning between us and Daytona Beach.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:39 pm (UTC)And I would like to say AHA to the people of South Carolina. They are probably smelling the fires in North Carolina and blaming us just because of prevailing winds.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-15 10:44 pm (UTC)Or it's the Georgia one -- you can always blame it on Georgia.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 12:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 05:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 01:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 05:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-16 05:38 pm (UTC)That sounds really scary! My prayers are with all Floridians at this time. And hats off to the brave men and women who are working tirelessly to contain these fires.