Shouting, 'Fire'

DanE, chicago, IL — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:14:13 GMT

I notice that the pictures they are putting up on the front page of msnbc.com are bigger and prettier then non-fire pictures in the past week. I know that I have seen some "panaramic" style shots up on the front page before but these seem strikingly different. so what's going on?

Shouting, 'Fire'

Norma, Los Angeles, CA — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:35:44 GMT

The fires out here are really bad. I live about an hour and a half from all the major fires, but with so many blazing there is a constant smoky haze in the sky giving off an orange tint. There is even ash on my car. I continue to pray for all those affected.

Shouting, 'Fire'

mary johnson — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:22:47 GMT

on southern california fires ? why can't they use the material we use on air-planes to put out fire ????????

Shouting, 'Fire'

Will Femia — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:14:19 GMT

DanE, I'm not sure how well this answers your question but that layout for the front is reserved for especially big news events. I'm not sure when the last time was that we used it, definitely for Virginia Tech but I don't recall if there was something big enough to warrant it since then. Oh, probaby the bridge collapse in Minnesota.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Sean, Southern OR — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:46:34 GMT

Mary, they are, but 50mph hot, dry Santa Anna winds feed a lot of oxygen in and create a lot of airplane destroying turbulence. You just cannot drop enough water or retardent to make any difference. Having watched the Biscuit Complex fire burn nearly 500,000 acres here in Southern Oregon teaches you that humans just aren't that powerful against the forces of nature. They were using 6 National Guard Chinooks, 3 Erickson Skycranes, a fleet of Kaman K-Max's and smaller helicopters. Airplanes were useless because of the terrain, turbulence and flight time. The best use of the helicopters was to just keep fire out of residences, the rest of the fire fighting was backfire to rob the fire of fuel so it wouldn't burn as intensely and to hopefully steer it away from residential areas. The fire was not out until the fall rains arrived. California is a bit dryer down there.

We just sent four Sikorsky helicopters down from Carson Helicopters. They only hold 1,000 gallons of water each so it's going to take a huge fleet of them to equal a very minor rain. The Erickson Skycranes can move 2,500 gallons each.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Bernard in Washington — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:24:59 GMT

I am bothered that the fire issue is only being made out as a "Global Warming" issue. Yes I agree and subscribe to global warming" as an existing problem. But the true cause and the real chase is to deal with the firebugs who took the opportunity on an extremely dry year, with a Santa Anna wind to cause extreme damage. And the story is not correctly/completely being reported.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Bruce F. Webster, Parker, CO — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:07:34 GMT

Will:

And Still I Persist is back up and reporting. Our web hosting firm shut us down yesterday due to bandwidth issues, then took _10 hours_ to get us back online, in spite of my waving my credit cards at them. Aargh. Anyway, Bruce Henderson is still reporting from the heart of north San Diego County and I'm pulling together other data (did you know that all freeways and major highways leading into or out of San Diego County were closed last night? That only one is open now, and it runs right through an active fire?). Anyway, thanks for the kind words and the link. ..bruce..

Shouting, 'Fire'

Steve, AR — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:20:56 GMT

Didn't you know? Everything bad that happens is a result of global warming.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Joel Halter, Melbourne, IA — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:13:23 GMT

Enough is enough. It's time for Dick Cheney to fire up his hurricane machine again and start it in California.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Rory Regan, Bakersfield, CA — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:37:45 GMT

The San Diego Representative was on Hardball 10/24/07 2:20pm. He indicated that the Federal planes are sitting on the tarmac filled with fire retardant waiting to assist in the firefight. Waiting to be invited to participate in fighting the horrific fires. Waiting for what??? And Chris Matthews doesn't call him on the stupidity of this statement? This is the response, sit and wait to be invited?!

But the representative is proud of the response. Reality check please.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Summer, Seattle, WA — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:35:15 GMT

What bothers me more is that there are people out there trying to pin it on terrorism...I would blame it on global warming before I'd blame it on terrorism...but REALLY, it's just nature. Just like the floods and tornadoes in the midwest and the hurricanes in the east. Fires happen ALL the time down there. I was in San Diego in 2003 when the massive fires were burning in almost the same exact spot. Now I have three friends that have been evacuated and are praying their homes make it. We can't control it (in the case of global warming we can MAYBE slow it a bit), only try to fix it after nature has done what she will.

Shouting, 'Fire'

Norma, Los Angeles, CA — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:24:24 GMT

Yes, global warming may play a part, but so everyone is clear this is not a case of spontaneous combustion. Unfortunately, some of these fires are cases of arson. The lack of rain and the winds makes it very difficult to contain these fires, but it's really sad that someone purposely started them in the first place.