The GW Fire is threatening the extremely upscale Black Butte Resort, and all residents of the resort area have been told to evacuate. Although the fire so far has burned less than 10,000 acres, the Forest Service has spent well over $2 million trying to put it out, or at least to defend Black Butte.
Smoke from the GW Fire almost completely obscured Black Butte in the right background.
Flickr photo by Mizinformation.
There is a better way. Instead of putting the burden of protecting homes on the Forest Service and state firefighters, homeowners should defend their own homes. This “stay and defend” policy has been adopted in much of Australia, and a few U.S. fire departments are beginning to experiment with it as well.
