http://www.stinkyjournalism.org/editordetail.php?id=486

In reporting, I found some interesting factual problems that I talk about in my story. While they’re not exactly the issues you bring up above (It seemed to me that a number of your critiques don’t really apply that well to this particular report) I invite you to check out my post and see what you think.

-Molly

Howard (17:44:00) :
…
That’s just not credible. Peshtigo is 221 miles from Chicago. I’ve lived in Wisconsin my whole life except

Well, now, yes it could be; you’re assuming a single ember traveling the ENTIRE distance in one fell swoop whereas the effects from the Chicago fire could have hop-scotched the distance -

- consider a successive series of fires, each producing embers, each ember successively producing fires further away …
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“No, not particularly, not the way the story went/how it was explained that the Peshtigo fire was caused by embers from the Chicago fire (if memory serves me correct having read the story years back) and considering the dryness/the drought that I think they were having – no, not odd really …”

That’s just not credible. Peshtigo is 221 miles from Chicago. I’ve lived in Wisconsin my whole life except when I went to Northwestern University and I’ve never heard that.

Real answer: coincidence.

“We have some really serious forest management issues all through the Rockies here in Colorado and Wyoming.”

Yep, the forest is a match looking for a light.

I talked to a ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, and he finally admitted that they would rather that it go ahead and burn and get it over with. Among other problems, they have had to clear trees from campgrounds due to the danger of falling limbs and trees.

I’m sure that it will be the fault of AGW when it happens.

I have seen those google maps satalitte images many times, but never drew a correlation to fires. You are probably correct. Some of those patches look to be about the size of California. Kind of brings things back into prospective.

” the fire was caused by arson”

“Why do people do this? I’ve asked before, but no-one seems to know.”

I can tell you why in this case. The city of La Canada/Flintridge was discussing laying off a number of firefighters to save money in Californias current budget crisis. It is rather obvious that a firefighter, or a relative of one, set the Station fire to prevent a layoff.

Well, the ghost gum has evolved a silvery bark as a natural defence against wild fires, and many other trees have their own strategies. I imagine that this evolution could only have happened since 1970, as there were no fires before then.

Sorry … you say that ghost gums have been like that for thousands of years? Impossible, CO2 emissions only started in the ’70s.

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tallbloke (05:54:21) :

” the fire was caused by arson”

Why do people do this? I’ve asked before, but no-one seems to know.

“Never let a good crises go to waste” – owed contemoprarily to either Axelrod or Emmanual early 2009 (it is irrelevant in any case) but sometimes you have to create your own ‘crises’ by starting your own fire (referring now to the one or two fire-suppression people they have caught through the years involved in arson and for the creating of a ‘crises’ and an environment in which they felt they could ‘shine’, be of service and – wait for it – needed.)
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crosspatch (22:39:42) :

On the same day as the Peshtigo and Chicago fires, the cities of Holland, and Manistee, Michigan, across Lake Michigan, also burned, and the same fate befell Port Huron at the southern end of Lake Huron.

Uhm, didn’t this strike anyone as being just a little “odd” that all these towns should burn on the same day in the same general region (upper midwest)?

No, not particularly, not the way the story went/how it was explained that the Peshtigo fire was caused by embers from the Chicago fire (if memory serves me correct having read the story years back) and considering the dryness/the drought that I think they were having – no, not odd really …
Did you have something more? I was unaware that fires were ocurring across the lake in Michigan though.

eric (09:42:41) :

“The comments debunking the 60 minutes story are way off base.
There are 2 factors affecting forest fires – human land use, and global warming
It did illustrate what happens in the lodgepole pine forests where the influence of climate is strong, and land use did not affect the incidence and intensity of fires.”

Ok Lodgepole pine is _not_ a primary species-it in the lower 48, in particular is a
secondary species.Something on the way to the primary, dominant, Species, like say,Ponderosa or Jeffery Pine.Lodgepole is prone to fire as part of it’s very nature.
fiber quality, and content makes it vulnerable.BTW springs seem to be getting a bit later here in NE Oregon. Snowpacks are variable by their very nature,and cyclical.
No, as someone who has been in and around the woods of the west most of my life,
man and boy,I do see man’s hand, but one of mismanagement,not I driving my F-150…

“More rubbish from 60 Minutes tonight”

is redundant.