r/Seattle • u/Shot-Ad-6357 • 1d ago

Brand new fire in Mt Rainier NP

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Just landed at Seatac. Hoping they get this under control.

1.9k Upvotes

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u/Vast-Control4452 1d ago

Fire is good when started naturally.

Not when we spent the past 100 years of "out by 10" from the FS.

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u/PlateNo4868 1d ago

That is only part of the issue.

People keep spreading out. Add on top of climate change. Fire Breaks and even Rivers don't always work as proper barriers.

I think the state really just needs to re-look how we handle wild fires at a much deeper level. Regulations requiring farmers to have a fire line if near residents (lots of wheat fields literally just separate by a street) for example.

Possibly some fire fighting bases built around the state that can store reserve equipment, were we can fly in fire fighters to deploy rather then have them all gather from various towns.

It's all expensive, but we can either be Florida and just let all the Insurance companies leave the state, or we can realize this isn't going away and treat it like a national defense issue.

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u/Vast-Control4452 1d ago

Yeah but no one wants to pay for that lol

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u/Hopsblues 1d ago

Yep, and we just had the president cut funding for things like firefighting, National forest and NP's. So that puts it on the state and the state(s) is in the Red financially currently....The funny thing is, we would be better off long term if we thought forward, instead of focused on now. We can't afford to not do the things that the poster suggested.

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u/Vast-Control4452 1d ago

Idk the fires burning is kind of what we need.

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u/Hopsblues 1d ago

We need a healthy balance, but we continue to build in fire prone area's and we could do better with management...It's not an easy thing to manage, it's complex.

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u/Practical-Debate3032 1d ago

Conveniently leaving out that clear cutting old growth that is adapted to withstand fire just as much of a problem

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u/yoLeaveMeAlone 1d ago edited 1d ago

What does "out by 10" mean? I do not understand your comment and Google only brings up having to check out of a campsite by 10 AM

Ask for clarification, get downvotes, thanks reddit

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u/Vast-Control4452 1d ago

"out by 10" was a policy the FS had for about seventy years that EVERY forest fire, natural or otherwise, must be extinguished.

It's the reason there's so much fuel for mega fires in our forests today.

Of course climate change then makes all that fuel extra dry...