Back in the late `70s early `80s, when I lived in CA, I heard a rumor that firefighters were starting fires so they could get overtime pay. Shortly after that a firefighter somewhere near Ventura/Oxnard did get arrested with incendiary devices in the trunk of his car that were very much like those used to start a wildfire. A few years later there was that woman firefighter in CO that said she was burning a "love letter", or something to that effect, that also started a wildfire.

I got to witness a single tiny bottle rocket start a raging brush fire in Saugas, CA one evening when I was there to watch a car race. It was put out very quickly by the local fire dept, but it sure demonstrated how fast they can get roaring.

An old timer that grew up in the San Fernando Valley told me that the hills surrounding it were covered with big old oaks when he was young. It must have been really beautiful back then. What a difference people have made there!

I used to work near the Van Nuys airport and watch the C-130s when they were pressed into service fighting fires. They look so big when they're on the ground, and so tiny when they are dumping on the fires.
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