10-03-2021, 07:49 AM
I follow a group on Facebook that gives updates on the firefighters. The group shows how to read the incident maps. The leader of the group Jeff Aiello goes to the press briefings. Jeff is also the CEO of ValleyPbs. After the Creek Fire, he decided to do a documentary about the fire because people were dissatisfied with the official cause of origin of the fire being probably lightning.
That documentary is Afterburn. In some ways, it was quite good. Aiello interviewed a lot of the firefighters involved with running the operation. They had some great local footage of people caught in the fire. And they interviewed people affected by the fire. Good stuff.
But Jeff also did his bit as investigative reporter, getting to the actual cause of the fire. He's on camera trekking through the burnt forest a year later with his team looking for clues to the fires origins. He has questions! Having questions is fine. Ultimately, he interviewed the fire investigator, who really didn't want to be interviewed, about the cause of the fire. The Investigator went through all the reasons why it was probably a lightning strike and gave evidence for his case. The evidences was pretty rock solid and at the end of the interview you should come away thinking the cause of the fire was lightning.
There were also interviews with both sides of the forest management debate, which is a very contentious area of discussion here in the mountains. On one side is the interview with the climate scientist and fire specialist who gave information about why fires are part of the cycle and how fires are beneficial. He also show how building and structures could be 100% protected. On the other side was the former head of the local forest service agency, who thinks we really need to go and cut down the dead wood and clear out the junk. To be fair, I'm on the scientist's side on this one but not completely.
Although, our director tries to be impartial, he is on the side of cutting.
I can't remember the exact words but at one point the narration goes we need to stop meddling with the forest like we have done in the past but we really need to clean up the mess.
That documentary is Afterburn. In some ways, it was quite good. Aiello interviewed a lot of the firefighters involved with running the operation. They had some great local footage of people caught in the fire. And they interviewed people affected by the fire. Good stuff.
But Jeff also did his bit as investigative reporter, getting to the actual cause of the fire. He's on camera trekking through the burnt forest a year later with his team looking for clues to the fires origins. He has questions! Having questions is fine. Ultimately, he interviewed the fire investigator, who really didn't want to be interviewed, about the cause of the fire. The Investigator went through all the reasons why it was probably a lightning strike and gave evidence for his case. The evidences was pretty rock solid and at the end of the interview you should come away thinking the cause of the fire was lightning.
There were also interviews with both sides of the forest management debate, which is a very contentious area of discussion here in the mountains. On one side is the interview with the climate scientist and fire specialist who gave information about why fires are part of the cycle and how fires are beneficial. He also show how building and structures could be 100% protected. On the other side was the former head of the local forest service agency, who thinks we really need to go and cut down the dead wood and clear out the junk. To be fair, I'm on the scientist's side on this one but not completely.
Although, our director tries to be impartial, he is on the side of cutting.
I can't remember the exact words but at one point the narration goes we need to stop meddling with the forest like we have done in the past but we really need to clean up the mess.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm