Dr_Ken's Journal: Fighting Fire Versus Fighting Nature

When I lived out on the West coast I used to marvel at the way that wild fires broke out in the outer suburbs and no effort was spared to save the homes in the fires path. But what amazed me even more was noting (after a few years living there) that the fires all seem to happen in the same places. It shouldn't be that hard for the Forest Service or the USGS to do a study of where the fires are most likely to happen and prepare ahead of time to fight them or (even better IMHO) use the gov's eminent domain power to buy out the small lot owners in the afflicted areas and prohibit any further real estate development there as well. In other words, don't go where the fires are, eh? But that's just too rational, too easy for them though. Because here it is fire season again and the same stuff is happening all over again. Sheesh. I don't know if it's really necessary to build on mountainsides and canyons that are full up with dry chaparral that's just waiting to burn because of population pressure to build more homes or it's politically connected real estate interests pushing local governments to expand but it sure seems stupid to me. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.