We have a winner!

Daryl · Post by **Daryl** » Jun 20 2002 3:25 pm

We just found the winner of the "stupidest person in Arizona contest."
Why:
1. Her and a friend were hiking in a forest that is closed because of fire danger!
2. There is the biggest forest fire in recent Arizona history miles away, clearly visible (still thought it was a good day for an illegal hike)!
3. When they got lost, they split up (number one thing not to do when lost)!
4. When she spotted a helicopter, she thought it was a good idea to light a fire (see reason 1 and 2)! Note, the fire that the rodeo fire just passed in size (the dude fire in 1990) was started the same way.
5. When she got rescued, she didn't think to be sure the signal fire was out!

I'm writing this in anger and it's not ment to be funny. I'm venting my frustrations. What does it take to make people think a little.

Furthermore, all this going on and I still see smokers throwing butts out the window (if you're a smoker and you don't do this, I'm not sterotyping, I know not all of you do do this). All the smokers doing this deserve runner up for stupidest person of the year.

kurthzone · Post by **kurthzone** » Jun 20 2002 10:31 pm

Does anyone remember the public education campaign sponsored by the U.S. Forrest Service? Does anyone remember a bear with a shovel and a ranger hat? Does anyone remember crush cigarettes until out, drown a fire or break a match in two? Does anyone remember the serious message that Smokey delivered at the end of every commercial, as he pointed an accusing finger at the camera?

REMEMBER ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FORREST FIRES!

My how times change. Smokey has been retired for some time, but the criminally stupid are still at work. I have read that the forrest service worker who started the fire in Colorado could receive up to 65 years. What can we do? Can we require intelligence tests for entry into the forests?

The other day I had the misfortune of having to see a cat get run over by a truck. That horrible image stayed uppermost in my mind for a long time because that cat did not die right away. It suffered first. Now what do you suppose happens to the animals that are trapped in those fires? THEY SUFFER! I know that animals suffer in drought and severe winters and because nature balances. But when someone starts a fire in an area that is closed because of fire danger they have caused those animals to suffer. Loss of human life is the worst. Persons starting these fires should be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law.

As for the stupidity, I think I have alluded to it in another thread and directed the reader to a PBS site about Manifest Destiny and the logic behind it. The future can at times look bleak and I have a bunch of postulates that I won’t even expound upon right now, but I do believe that the amount of government control and restrictions have grown and will grow proportionately with urban sprawl and population growth.

And that’s all I have to say about that. Stupid is as stupid does.

GTG_AZH · Post by **GTG_AZH** » Jun 21 2002 7:22 am

Stupid is as stupid does.

I woke up this morning thinking the same thing about these people, upon discovery, they should be made to help put these fires out.

The world is full of idiots, everyday they do something more extreme than the day before and it shocks me less and less.

GTG

GeorgAZ · Post by **GeorgAZ** » Jun 21 2002 7:52 am

I think they should be dipped in a verrrry slow-burning cooking oil,hung up + lit in public!

It is just unreal that these are "fellow" outdoor people,that supposedly know better+ have regard+awareness of their surroundings,have inflicted all this damage that will be YEARS in overcoming!!

.I just cry when I think of all the damage+pain+suffering of all the wildlife+people losing all. There is no punishment hard enough for these ##**!! idiots!

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Jun 21 2002 8:32 am

The latest story on the lady that started the Hayman fire in CO is that she deliberately started the fire so she could put it out and be a hero.

Nice motivation.

Education of the public doesn't seem to be enough. Here is a lady that is a forest ranger - specially trained and educated in the dangers of forest fires, someone (supposedly) who is intemately familiar with the extremely hazardous conditions of the land right now - and STILL she decides to play hero.

That is monumental stupidity.

If there isn't hope for a forest service employee - what hope is there for Joe public? As I mentioned in a previous post - an actoin that we would define as sensless and moronic, is to the practitioner not. I am unaware of a single person who considers themselves a knuckle dragging moron. And yet their actions speak volumes about their collosal lack of sense and reason.

How the hell do you educate people who don't even care to listen - or worse yet - feel that they are the exception to the rule. It's like the teenager who drives 100 MPH down the freeway. They are invincible, invulnerable. Others don't drive that fast because they don't know how or are too scared. --- Well, actually, we don't drive that fast because we realize that there are too many factors involved that we can't control, or don't completely understand.

I can barely even discuss this anymore...I'm going to go read the comics and try to get a laugh out of those.

ck_1 · Post by **ck_1** » Jun 21 2002 10:02 am

olesma wrote:How the hell do you educate people who don't even care to listen - or worse yet - feel that they are the exception to the rule.

In all honesty, I try to do that every day of the school year. I'm not joking. Try teaching kids who think that teachers are people who couldn't find anything else to do. Try working with parents who, when their kids are held responsible for their own actions, try to blame everyone else. Anybody catch the news on the teacher in Peoria who was threatened by a lawyer when she failed a student? That happens more than you want to know!

Accountability is a huge issue.

jeremy77777 · Post by **jeremy77777** » Jun 21 2002 3:55 pm

I pity the fool who set the fire by heber. There are a lot of people I know that would like to see her get life in prison if their houses are destroyed. Well, Maybe she should be sentenced to prison until the forest grows back to the way it was. Then be fined for all the houses that got burned. Some poeple just need horse-whipped!

spodumene · Post by **spodumene** » Jun 21 2002 5:27 pm

The Chedeski and Rodeo fires are expected to merge into one big fire in a couple of days, at which time it will have consumed close to 300,000 acres. I heard about the lost hiker setting the Chedeski fire, but has anyone heard what, or maybe I should say who, started the Rodeo fire? With all the news on TV I don't know why I keep missing this information. Where did the Rodeo fire actually start, does anyone know?

Pellegrino · Post by **Pellegrino** » Jun 21 2002 6:51 pm

Doesn't the News shows just bug you? They seem to say a whole lot of nothing. I work at home and have access to the news morning, noon and night. Yet, most of the info I've learned has been right here. I too haven't heard who/how the Rodeo fire started.

Yesterday I pointed out the "clouds" behind 4-peaks to my husband. He said, "Its got to be that fire." They were so white I didn't think so but found out they were. The news didn't even mention how clearly we could see the smoke from way down here.

I first heard that woman hiker shot off a flare to alert a helicopter, but now, apparently she "set" a signal fire and then they ALL left it. What's up with that? What is the story here. I'm also curious how many hikers carry flares. Were they on an overnite hike? I guess nothing really matters now as the damage is done. I agree with GTG they should at least have to help fight the fire, watch homes burn and watch frightened animals run for their lives.

And where is Smokey The Bear???? We MISS him. We want him back.

Pellegrino · Post by **Pellegrino** » Jun 21 2002 6:57 pm

I found Smokey, he's been muffled by the internet....

http://www.smokeybear.com/hom_main.html

BoyNhisDog · Post by **BoyNhisDog** » Jun 21 2002 7:36 pm

All of the smoke from the Rodeo fire is converging with smoke from New Mexico and ending up in the Four Corners. It was so smokey up there yesterday, we could not see the ground. We went in on instruments. There were no shadows in Durango when we arrived. It was overcast with smoke. Later in the day it became nicer. I shot this photo on the Animas River about 3:30. A little beauty in a world of #*^%#!. The train came by but did not go far. The fire ahead has put it on hold except for a few mile up and back. Rafts and kayaks were in the river and a couple of kids were jumping off the bridge into innertubes. A couple of Rainbows managed an aerial show on the end of my line.

The Animas in the Afternoon

Durango is filled with fire fighters for the fire just north of town. The West is burning down. I don't think these are the kind of fires that will repair themselves. This is going to be some catastrophic damage.

spodumene · Post by **spodumene** » Jun 22 2002 6:55 am

Nice Picture, Glen. It cools me off just looking at it!

I heard from a property owner up in the Heber area who says the Chedeski fire was started by a woman setting off a flare, because she ran out of gas and was stranded. His comment, "too bad she didn't have enough gas to pour on herself and do us all a favor."

I too have never heard of hikers carrying flares.

With all these variations on a story, makes you wonder how well the media does it's research. I agree, the news media reports on everything but the "real" news.

Daryl · Post by **Daryl** » Jun 24 2002 11:33 am

Carry a chem light, AKA glow stick for signalling at night. The kind you bend and shake and stay lit for 12 hours. The green ones are most visible and cost about $2. They are easy to see from far away.

During the day, use a mirror. A mirror can be spotted from miles away from a helicoptor.

Anyone else hear that channel 5 was filming while they picked that woman up, and as they left you could see the helicoptor fanning the signal fire!

GTG_AZH · Post by **GTG_AZH** » Jun 27 2002 11:45 am

from the azcentral.com site,

A Phoenix woman remains the focus of another investigation into the Chediski fire, which was ignited about 17 miles south of Heber.

The woman, Valinda Jo Elliott, 31, reportedly set a signal fire. She was found by a helicopter news crew for Channel 5 (KPHO).

Elliott told Channel 5 that her vehicle ran out of gas and that she had been lost for three days. No arrest has been made and no charges filed in the case.

Under federal law, people convicted of setting a forest fire on public land can receive as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. They also face up to 10 years in prison for charges of destruction of government property if they burn timber worth more than $1,000.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... ate27.html

Hope to see you all Saturday, leave your fire at home and bring your rain dancing shoes.

GTG

MaryPhyl · Post by **MaryPhyl** » Jun 27 2002 1:52 pm

My grandkids will be here for the weekend--I'm going to talk to them about fire. My cousin and I started a fire when we were about 8 years old. It was up on George Babbitt hill. It only got to be about 6 feet across before we were able to put it out with a pint of milk and some dirt and lots of stomping. We could have burned up Flagstaff that day. My husband also started one when he was a kid out by the ordinance depot. He and his brother got in big trouble for that one. I would rather they learn from our mistakes than have to make the same ones all over again playing with fire.

GTG_AZH · Post by **GTG_AZH** » Jun 27 2002 8:18 pm

I would rather they learn from our mistakes than have to make the same ones all over again playing with fire.

A big amen to that.

GTG

We have a winner!

We have a winner!

Yep

An Eye for an Eye

And the winner is....

Fire Lessons