I pray dearly for the four brave firefighters who gave thier live's for yet another beautiful watershed.

Just got the news and it is very disturbing.

Time to let some fires burn?

Or totally protect the watershed?

Just your thought's

I was holding my breath once I heard the news that 4 firefighters were missing and was sure hoping that they would be found okay. When they anounced that the fire had taken their lives my heart dropped.

Thousands of firefighters go out ever summer to protect our land and they must be thanked. They enter their line of work aware of the danger and considering the thousands that do it each summer, death is very few and far between.

It is something that must be done. How often have we seen the small 100 acre fire explode into thousands and thousands of acres of charred wildlands. Thousands of acres can/will grow and grow and grow.

We can thank them for their effort, for their sacrifice and have them in our prayers.

I would love to just let fires burn themselves out like they did hundreds of years ago, but there are too many man-introduced problems that make this sort of forest management extremely unlikely:

• Man's overreliance on the timber industry
• Man's unnatural planting of the forests during the first half of the 20th century, making for forests that are TOO dense
• Man's desire to live closer to nature by building homes right on treelines

Of course these are only my opinions and if they stand on any shred of fact then it is purely coincidental and unintended.

I mourn for those who died fighting the fires as well as their friends and families.

[ 07-11-2001: Message edited by: Heywood Jablomie ]

Not only do I feel horrible for the loss of the four and the injuries of all the others, I am amazed at the young ladyff from Naches who put the 2 hikers inside her fire shelter with her to save them. They may have been burned, but all 3 survived. That shelter is made for 1 ! God Bless her...another example of a firefighter doing the job and way beyond.

Heywood,
Those are the facts. They have known it for years, it just not popular with the brainwashed Smokey Bear lovers. (Did anyone think that this lovable character was Federally created?)
Their loss of life is truly sad.

Terrible terrible thing, so sad. This is going to be a bad fire season and hopefully this will be the last fatalities. No one needs to loose thier lives over property. The woman who put the two hikers in her shelter with her did a great job, the shelters are only made for one and the way they protect the best is by having as much air space inside as possible to keep the heat from your body. Great job and keep the familes in your thoughts and prayers. Firedog

This is a terrible tragedy! It reminds of the 8 Oregon firefighters that got caught between two fire lines that had shifted abruptly due to wind direction changes; and they lost their lives also, a few years ago. These are brave people trying to save our forests. My thoughts and prayers are with them and their families right now. ...

At what point do we put undue risk on firefighters in attempt to save property or timber? To me, at no point. Any tactical errors need to be on the cautious side for the firefighters, and keep the risk where it shoud be - very low. Fires are a natural occurance that is a normal part of a forest's ecosystem. The thinning out process and important new undergrowth are part of the evolution of healthy forests. Those dynamics have been changed by money/greed. That illness has to take a backseat to the safety of all firefighters! Allow them to reduce the overall fire damage as best they can without undue risk - only.

RT

well said RT.

These were kids of the most holsom kind.

Jesse was my good friends girl, she was the nicest girl, and her boy friend bought a new Lund this spring. First trip was to the wind for Springer’s, she hooked and landed a nice 25# fish. Her first at that. A week later she hooked and landed another 20+#er. The weather was bad, cold rainy and she never complained. As a matter of fact she was ready to go again.
She was a special girl and will be missed by all who knew her for quite a while.
"HEART FELT SORROW TO THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS"

A snappy salute and a big thank you.

Wit

tilla,

You shouldn't confuse opinion with fact. Not everyone who thinks some fires ought to be left to burn is a "Smokey Bear lover". I understand the need to manage forests, but if you think you're going to beat Ma Nature at doing it, you're dreadfully mistaken. Putting fires out consistently leads to an unnatural buildup of fuel, and eventually will result in the kind of fires that ravaged Yellowstone Park. The Yellowstone fires show that allowing fires to burn, after decades of putting them out, can result in fires of magnitudes we had not yet experienced. It looks like we're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Let the fires burn, and they may become too large to contain....put them out and the fuel builds up until any resulting fires become extremely difficult to contain.

That being said, I'm extremel;y saddened by this news. I'm not sure if I believe their job is so important as to outweigh their deaths. I suppose it is, and if MY house were threatened by a fire, wildfire or otherwise, I'd sure as hell want the fire put out. Still, there are children without parents, and parents without children because of this Possessions can be replaced, people can't.

It's great to see the support here for the fallen FF's. It was a terrible thing that happens too often.

It's also good to see familiar names here, I'm the same "WheresMyBobber" from ifish. I think I'll probably be spending more time over here now, and hopefully I can contribute to the cause and look forward to meeting and possibly fishing with some new friends.

Greetings all.