Thread: Canadian forest fire smoke

Originally Posted by Euclid440

My buddy has worked for the Forestry Service for years, starting as a Smoke Jumper. He supervises the accounting and payment of sub-contractors that do and support firefighting.

Much of the firefighting is done by Sub Contractors and all of the support is subbed. The money is stupidly massive. Think about it on a national level, Air Support, logistics/transportation, Food Service, heavy equipment, lodging, travel, equipment purchases and they don’t do any of it on the cheap, no one questions the cost, ripe for large scale fraud and all of them only get paid, when there is a fire. It is an industry.

He says, when you just look at the numbers going back years, the pattern is glaringly obvious, each year the “Season” starts earlier, lasts longer and costs more. No one outside of the Service talks about it, because of the “Fire Fighter Hero” image and the money is so big, “they” will crush you.

Money makes people do crazy things.

So what’s the saying? Where there is smoke…

Well, if that really is the case so much for the thought that privatization/out sourcing produces a better cheaper outcome. A great knock on Capitalism being perverted to those ends to generate work and profits.

Bob

Yes, very hazy here by Lake Superior which is not normally the case. Hope they get a handle on the fires for those impacted by them.

ChrisL

I was surprised by the Rochester, MN air today but had no idea about the cause until going online just now. I'm glad to know that it's just smoke. Not to belittle it but it seemed so nasty that I thought it was something more toxic. I'm also surprised that today's rain did not do more to clear it out.

Today the air was pretty clear for a change. The wind direction has changed for the time being.

I hear there has been 11,000+ people evacuated from the areas up in northern Saskatchewan.

Canadian Army is sending 1000 people to help combat the fires now. They get 36 hours worth of training and then go and fight the fires.....

I wish them luck!