Horns247 Board

Turn the sig pics off before you get in trouble!

Were his pals the bin Ladens there?

I resisted posting that until I saw your retort about the Colorado fires.

Sure is fun being a public servant and getting second guessed by the public. I didn't really want to get pulled into this kind of banter while sharing a part of myself with my fellow Longhorns.

In case anyone else wants to take a shot at those of us responding to wildfires across the country, I thought I could inform you a little better. I know the 3 firefighters that have died this year (including a friend of mine) protecting communities would appreciate it. In addition, as all government agencies, we are hamstrung by reduced federal budgets and increased public scrutiny. Large fire cost containment is a major issues with our agencies, and yes many of us are sitting idle and waiting until we are called up.

I hope all my fellow Longhorns understand that the men and women fighting these fires are the worlds best and need your support, not your criticism.

1. All of the major incidents are currently being managed and fought by federal resources and assisting local resources. By my quick count there is 7084 firefighters on the line today.

Source National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

2. If you would like to keep informed on the current fire situation and on individual fires you can get information about resources on scene, maps, evacuations, and planned actions at Inciweb: http://www.inciweb.org/

3. If you are interested in assisting families of fallen wildland firefighters please visit the wildland firefighter foundation at
http://www.wffoundation.org/Index.asp

I apologize to the members that by sharing about myself brought negativity to this thread. I typically wouldn't dignify these kind of responses, but I couldn't sit idly by. Thanks to the others for the support.

Hook'Em Horns!!!!
Jeff Adams Texas EXES Life Member 2010

So there are about 8 attorneys on here and people started picking on the firefighter ?!?!?!

Thanks for all you do Jeff

I'll be happy to 2nd guess.

My town was recently (within the last couple weeks) subject to a fire that destroyed 50,000+ acres and over 250 homes.

The fire began on Monday (lightning) and was called in within minutes. It began on BLM land that was very accessible. Despite the fact the forecast clearly called for 40+ MPH winds by the weekend, the United States Forest Service in our area decided to let it burn "naturally".

On Friday, the big winds came in and all hell broke loose. Now most of our beautiful Aspen and pine trees are gone. They won't be back for generations. What takes their place in the mean time are trashy looking scrub oaks. When the rains come, we will be subject to floods of ash, soot and debris. They tell us our lakes will be soot pits for the next decade - the fish all gone. Millions and millions of dollars in tourist trade gone. A couple thousand firefighters and volunteers lives endangered fighting and cleaning up this mess. Did I mention 250 houses were destroyed ?

And all of it could have been prevented if the USFS had done their job and stopped this fire when they had 4 days to easily do so.

To make my point even better, the head of the local Forest Service said a recent town meeting that "Given all that has occurred, I don't have a problem with our response to the fire". The idiot needed an armed escort to leave the building safely.

As far as you having to "dignify these kind of responses", I feel the same way when I read how you Fed boys are "protecting your home and communities and enriching ecosystems".

Look, I'm very thankful for the fire fighters. They saved much of our town from being reduced to rubble. But please spare me the talk on what a wonderful job the Fed is doing protecting us - the fire fighters, yes - the USFS, absolutely not.

It started out as a family thread and we are just proving every family has one.

My apologies. Just a little pet peeve of mine. I moved to a town known for its incredibly clean air, and now we have the air quality of Las Angeles half the year thanks to controlled burns.

What kind of consulting do you do?

Well, I've not been here for near a year, but fwiw:

1. Ops for Commodities Trading
2. NFL or NBA Front office or scout
3. When I came to UT From Colorado, I'd only been to the state of Texas once (to visit campus)

Well said 81. Well said indeed.