The unbearable tragedy in Arizona: I am hoping for a full investigation. SJ Dodgson. MJoTA 2013. v7n2 p0701
Firefighters who are experienced know that the wind can change in an instant, know that fire jumps, know that fire travels uphill 6 times faster.
I am wondering if someone gave false information, gave stupid orders: these young men knew what they were doing. Unbearable tragedy.
When I was 17, I was a counselor in a summer camp outside Sydney in charge of 6 10-years-old girls for a week-long summer camp. My little brother, who was 9, was also in the camp and he passed through the week happily unaware of what we were facing.
I had been traveling up the mountains to volunteer at these Church of England camps since I was 15 - the long talks about how we were sinners that only Jesus could love were the price for getting away to the mountains. Which were gorgeous. But were not during the January before I started high school.
In December, the huge house that usually accommodated Camp Howard, and also weekend house parties from church, had been burned to the ground.
A shed had been left standing, fire had roared up hill through forest, jumped over the shed and burned down the 2-story brick 15-dormitory building.
So during the summer camp we were in another big building owned by the Methodists. And one night we were told to put the children to bed fully dressed, and make a joke like this was a treat! And get ready to evacuate if anyone came to evacuate us.
We were completely surrounded by fire. Not close, a few miles away, but surrounded. During the night the counselors took turns on patrol, and when I finally woke, the wind had shifted the fires and we were out of danger.
I am wondering about the tents the hotshot firemen were given. I am sure fire technology has advanced considerably in the hot summers since I was 17 in Australia, but I know that physics has not.
Fires can be hotter than 1,000 deg F. And what they want, what they live for, is oxygen. Wrapping yourself in a fire-proof green tent will not save you. These tents did not save 19 hot shot firemen in Arizona. I want to know why anyone thought they would.
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When Fire Jumps: a magic realism novel about the random
nature of love and loss. A family makes plans for summer, and the fires
come click here
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Edited from the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
Comprising about 1.25 million acres, the Prescott borders 3 other
National Forests in Arizona: Kaibab, Coconino, and Tonto.
Roughly half the forest lies west of the city of Prescott, Arizona, in the
Juniper, Santa Maria, Sierra Prieta, and Bradshaw Mountains.
The other
half of the Forest lies east of Prescott and takes in the Black Hills,
Mingus Mountain, Black Mesa, and the headwaters of the Verde River.
Parts of the Prescott National Forest today are much the same are
they were when Sam Miller panned for gold in Lynx Creek and was wounded
by a cougar, or when General Crook's flag fluttered over Palace Station.
At the lowest elevation, the primary vegetation is of the Sonoran
Desert type. As the elevation rises, chaparral becomes common, followed
by piñon pine and juniper. Above that, Ponderosa pine dominates the
landscape.
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Edited from salary.com
The median salary of fire fighters in Prescott, Arizona: $35,754
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Map, flag and information, edited from Wikipedia
Arizona has a 389-mile (626 km)-long international border with Mexico.
In 2010, Arizona passed the toughest US legislation against illegal migration.
The United States Supreme Court struck this law down as invalid in Jun, 2013.
The Arizona law demanded that all state residents show documents proving their US
citizenship before registering to vote in national elections.
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