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**enasseneiff** · 08-12-2007, 01:20 AM

mozart,
i had no idea about the portero/ blackwater connection; but it's not surprising given what i observed...
the fire came to within a 1/2 kilometer from my home but was ultimately protected by the huge air response to the fire in malibu. lafd also responded en masse to the santa clarita fire (where my girlfriend happens to live).
on the "news," a reporter covering the lake arrowhead fires interviewed the pilots of a superscooper and a giant neptune helicopter on why they seemed to be standing idly by as arrowhead burned. the pilots, seemingly affronted, stated that it is unsafe to fly "fire suppression forces" in winds over 40 mph... furthermore, the pilots stated that they wouldn't be able to "lift off" the lake with the weight of the water in toe as well as the wind.
hmmm... in the higher tax bracket neighborhood adjacent to mine, which had 70-85 mph santa anna winds blowing strong all day, fire suppression air strikes had no problem squelching the blaze in strategic areas & in defense of all structures (after the initial loss of the malibu presbeterian church & a few homes that went up in the first couple hours of the fire; that started on piuma 2 hours after the wind started).
i grew up in them thar hills; & we get fires every few years.... but come on!... 13 fires within 6 hours of the 1st strong santa anna of the year? well, power lines and the such could account for a couple of the fires... but 13?
even i, a lad with a healthy, active imagination, has a hard time "suspending my disbelief," so to speak, on this one.
anyways, to wrap up:
fire pilots in arrowhead swore they couldn't fly in "40 mph plus" winds... yet in malibu and surrounding areas (which had steady 65-80 mph winds) had air fire suppresion (neptune helicopters & pooper scoopers, er, uh superscoopers) the whole time!
i "gots" the video to prove it (we had the mandatory evacuations, but we also had the gas powered water pumps and the full size fire hoses, so we stayed... again). i watched those pilots perform some very heroic drops...we owe them our lives many times over. however, i only wish they let lower tax brackets have the same protection.
just goes to show the inequities inherent in our present day government.
thats my feeble two cents: peace...

08-12-2007, 01:20 AM	#1
enasseneiff Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 429 Senior Member	mozart, i had no idea about the portero/ blackwater connection; but it's not surprising given what i observed... the fire came to within a 1/2 kilometer from my home but was ultimately protected by the huge air response to the fire in malibu. lafd also responded en masse to the santa clarita fire (where my girlfriend happens to live). on the "news," a reporter covering the lake arrowhead fires interviewed the pilots of a superscooper and a giant neptune helicopter on why they seemed to be standing idly by as arrowhead burned. the pilots, seemingly affronted, stated that it is unsafe to fly "fire suppression forces" in winds over 40 mph... furthermore, the pilots stated that they wouldn't be able to "lift off" the lake with the weight of the water in toe as well as the wind. hmmm... in the higher tax bracket neighborhood adjacent to mine, which had 70-85 mph santa anna winds blowing strong all day, fire suppression air strikes had no problem squelching the blaze in strategic areas & in defense of all structures (after the initial loss of the malibu presbeterian church & a few homes that went up in the first couple hours of the fire; that started on piuma 2 hours after the wind started). i grew up in them thar hills; & we get fires every few years.... but come on!... 13 fires within 6 hours of the 1st strong santa anna of the year? well, power lines and the such could account for a couple of the fires... but 13? even i, a lad with a healthy, active imagination, has a hard time "suspending my disbelief," so to speak, on this one. anyways, to wrap up: fire pilots in arrowhead swore they couldn't fly in "40 mph plus" winds... yet in malibu and surrounding areas (which had steady 65-80 mph winds) had air fire suppresion (neptune helicopters & pooper scoopers, er, uh superscoopers) the whole time! i "gots" the video to prove it (we had the mandatory evacuations, but we also had the gas powered water pumps and the full size fire hoses, so we stayed... again). i watched those pilots perform some very heroic drops...we owe them our lives many times over. however, i only wish they let lower tax brackets have the same protection. just goes to show the inequities inherent in our present day government. thats my feeble two cents: peace...
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