California races to deter disaster as towns face fire risk

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

SACRAMENTO, California — Impoverished towns in the shadow of Mount Shasta. Rustic Gold Rush cities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. High-dollar resort communities on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Ritzy Los Angeles County suburbs.

A McClatchy analysis reveals more than 350,000 Californians live in towns and cities that exist almost entirely within "very high fire hazard severity zones" — Cal Fire's designation for places highly vulnerable to devastating wildfires. These designations have proven eerily predictive about some of the state's most destructive wildfires in recent years, including the Camp Fire, the worst in state history.

Nearly all of Paradise is colored in bright red on Cal Fire's map — practically the entire town was at severe risk before the Camp Fire raged through last November, burning the majority of homes in its path and killing 85 people.

Malibu, where the Woolsey Fire burned more than 400 homes last year, also falls within very high hazard zones. As does the small Lake County town of Cobb, much of which was destroyed by the Valley Fire in 2015.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/california-races-to-deter-disaster-as-towns-face-fire-risk/ar-BBVPPar?li=BBnb7Kz

"They need to rake the forest" - Donny Dotard.

[haele]

1. Goats and strategic early burns to knock down brush.

Many ranchers and small communities keep or rent goats to keep the underbrush, especially along roadside and rail easments, in check. Problem is, there aren't enough goats to cover the areas that need to be protected across the state - and over the past decade, a lot of idiots have seen the goats and thought it would be funny to just be jerks and screw with them. So most goat owners no longer offer goats for local fire abaitment.

Haele