privatization.
someone should coin the word deprive-itization, it describes the process better.
http://www.princeton.edu/~starr/meaning.html

"I keep hearing that there aren't enough fire fighters" - really? I actually haven't heard that once. Certainly not from anyone credible. Although I've had similar thoughts recently, I don't really think that the problem calls for more bodies. Even so, in practical terms, the fire fighters would need a bit more equipment than just an axe or a shovel.

Basically, these firestorms occur when there is, low humidity, abundant fuel, and high wind -- and usually on steep hillsides or in canyons. With those factors in play, putting a bunch of bodies on the ground is really just putting more people in harm's way. Conditions are bad enough that crews really only get sent out to try to protect houses and those efforts are limited by water and hoses. Moreover, when fires can jump huge distances, untrained people are a huge liability since fast evacuation can be necessary.

Really, once these things start, there's very little that can be done. Considering that there is basically nothing that people can do to control humidity or wind conditions, it's pretty clear that aggressive fuel management policy (which, thankfully, seems to be getting more popular), maintaining logistics infrastructure for evacuation (which seems to be going very well here), and more prudent residential construction (never going to happen) should be the primary options for dealing with this sort of fire hazard.

But, from what I understand, fires are also the way forests renew themselves, they are part of the cycle. As for New Orleans, the problem ultimately is that humans want to live in places where nature has other plans. Yes, it's a tragedy, but...

Many of the plants in the area, including the great sequoias further north need the heat of a fire to break open cones and seed shells, so they can germinate and reproduce.
Too much fire suppression disturbs this cycle and allows more material to build up, thus causing hotter fires that can actually destroy the plant and the seed.
It would be a lot better to do proper planning and zoning to acomodate nature in this respect and to also build fireproof housing. Cheap asphalt shingle roof in a fire zone...not smart.

KATRINA'S LESSONS LEARNED: Indeed, state and federal officials deserve credit for their efforts combating the fires and keeping injuries to a minimum. In San Diego county, local officials placed more than 200,000 reverse 911 calls to residents, urging them to evacuate their homes. California's "state and local coordination, communication and planning for fires and other events are well advanced, built on decades of experience." White House Press Secretary Dana Perino pointed to the swift evacuation order as one of the "lessons learned" after Hurricane Katrina. "There's increased coordination and communication and earlier communication and coordination between the federal, state and local governments," she said. "We have learned those lessons and those lessons are being applied." Thousands of Californians who took refuge at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium had an experience far different from refugees who fled to New Orleans' Superdome in the wake of Katrina. Californians were greeted there by clean cots, tents, pillows, and blankets. "Volunteers offered massage therapy, yoga, kosher food, and art projects for kids," and others arrived in clown suits to entertain the children. "We have the luxury of being able to count on our neighbors," San Diego Mayor Gerald Robert Sanders said. "The folks in New Orleans didn't have that luxury, because everybody was impacted."

WAR STRETCHES DISASTER RESOURCES: Despite the proactive and immediate response by the local officials, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to eat up resources and thus limit disaster response efforts. "Right now, we are down 50 percent in terms of our National Guard equipment because they're all in Iraq, the equipment, half of the equipment," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said. "What we really need are those firefighters, we need the equipment, we need, frankly, we need those troops back from Iraq," said Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D). California was forced to pull 200 guard members from the Mexico border and deploy state prison inmates to fight the fires. This is not the first time that the war in Iraq has diverted resources from natural disasters at home. Last May, when tornadoes slammed into Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) said that National Guard's response was made "much slower" because so much of its force was deployed to Iraq. "I have said for nearly two years, and will continue to say, that we have a looming crisis on our hands when it comes to National Guard equipment in Iraq and our needs here at home," she said. A January report by the Government Accountability Office reported that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq drained stateside resources for the National Guard, possibly hampering its ability to react effectively to a natural disaster.

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport
lotsa links at site

ah a bc lad like myself,though i'm a van islander so there would be plenty difference.

not too far from here we have the mars water bombers and im pretty sure one or two of them were sent down to help. luckily, they wernt turned away, but then we are talking about upper middle class homes!! not a bunch of poor people with large black percentages.

It is part of the natural cycle here. We need to plan for burns, protect structures and keep people out of the way. I don't think adding untrained people to the lines helps much.

What should happen is that fire breaks and lines should be attended to before fire season, and for that we could certainly draft people to help. In the communities here that are following the strict defensible space guidelines, and clearing to the 100 foot limit around homes, not a single home has been lost. But this is tough to get people to buy into.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

Charles Darwin

the main point: The idea that everything has to be done by "professionals" is profoundly disempowering. And it's a pattern in the US. is absolutely spot on.

Whether it's insurance companies afraid of lawsuits (and lawyers looking for deep pockets), or "professions" that seek to maximize income by limiting access (while cloaking the quotidian nature of their jobs with an esoteric vocabulary), the good old 'murrican value of self-reliance is pretty well fucked these days.

Necessity might soon change that, though.

Since 1980, the dominant theme of political and social life is that nobody owes anybody else anything. Government should enforce property and morals laws, period. It might also build infrastructure, but private toll roads would be better, cheaper, faster, because government can't do anything right, unless it involves use of force, where government is so trustworthy that it ought to have unlimited power. Human beings are naturally selfish, so cherishing your inner selfishness is another word for freedom. And when you cherish your inner selfishness, you sure don't volunteer for any unpleasantness just to help the community!

ALL relationships in our brave new world are monetary. "Self-reliance" means doing it yourself or paying somebody else to do it. It doesn't mean working for the good of the whole community.