Posted by Snow in 
I am mourning today the loss of great hiking trails due to fire. From the Latimes.com fire coverage:
Joe Young, 63, who has hiked the San Gabriel Mountains for 39 years, said the burned area contains many of Southern California’s most popular hiking trails. “It’s very sad,” said Young, a member of the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks group. “In just the burned area so far we have about 40 peaks that the club goes to regularly, if not every week.
Yes, this is the Yogi the bear forest fire post everyone was dreading. As of today, broad fires are burning in the national forest hills North of my city as they have been for the last few days. The nimbus clouds folding over the mountains like unbuttered mashed potatoes have palled. And a lot of natural forest land has been burned.
The skinny around the water cooler is that the active methods to contain the Station fire have been hemmed in due to the fact that the hills which are burning are Federal land and not locally owned. But evacuation curiosities about why shelters were actually close to the fires than the homes being evacuated created some raised brows.
Much under the collar mumbling about how the Palos Verdes fire was quickly contained and how the pricey homes there were saved has generated some interest in Los Angeles circles. Triple digit temperatures generated a risk of fire while the causes have not yet been revealed.
Granted, home damage is still comparatively minimal, but one can’t help but wonder how green living and sustainable actions might have saved the $106 million it cost to fight these fires. Can rainwater catchment really save forest fires from starting? Can green plants cut down on risk of spreading fire?
County and Federal lands on the hills between La Canada caused a confusion and asking those emergency staff directing traffic during the height of the blaze elicited comments like “I don’t know”. This is not good.
Aside from some startling orange and red photography and some ugly white daytime fog and ash scattering hither and yon, smoke cloud angst has caused some interest in what green causes could have done to help.
I would like to find some sustainable fire prevention models for recycling and water reclamation projects to retard fires. Any links regarding these concepts will be published.
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