Feds start fire with one S in TX, then deny $$$$

[Deleted]

www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/13/us-wildfire-texas-blame-idUSTRE74C76T20110513
Texas county official says "stupid" feds sparked fire
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO | Fri May 13, 2011
(Reuters) - The fight between Texas and Washington, D.C., over wildfires in the Lone Star State just got nastier.

A county official in the Texas Panhandle is now blaming a federal agency for starting one of the fires through carelessness.

Tom Edwards, the county attorney in rural Motley County east of Lubbock, said on Friday that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives was responsible on Tuesday for sparking a fire that consumed 150 acres.

"You can quote me on it: That bunch has a real corner on stupid," Edwards told Reuters.

Tom Crowley, a spokesman with the federal agency, said bureau officials were assisting four local bomb squads -- at their request -- to destroy some explosives. Firefighters were on hand, he said. The wind picked up, but the explosives were too dangerous to move, so the officials went ahead and destroyed the explosives.

"Unfortunately, a fragment ignited some grass," Crowley said. "As far as the community, we're working with them to let them know how to go about making a claim with the government."

Texas Governor Rick Perry has publicly criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for declining the state's request for a major disaster declaration for wildfires that have scorched some 2.5 million acres since November.

FEMA has said it has awarded fire management grants to Texas but that the agency determined there was not a need for additional support.

"We've got the federal government that has refused to provide assistance to the state on the request of Governor Perry because of all our statewide fires, and then in waltzes federal agents and they start a fire," Edwards said.

"We had high winds, we're under a burn ban because of extensive prairie fires, brush fires, and in they rolled with the idea of blowing up things."

Crowley said that the federal bureau and the local bomb squads were working as a team.

Fires covering some 203,000 acres were still burning as of Friday, according to the Texas Forest Service. The state remains dangerously dry, with 47 percent of Texas listed as in "exceptional drought" by the U.S. Drought Monitor

MORE...

[Deleted]

Maybe they need a moat and some crocs??

[bobbysgirl]

A pretty moat and handsome crocs with flowers and waterfalls. All paid for by FEMA!

[Deleted]

Maybe Obama can get his illegal cheerleaders in El Paso to fight the fires???

[txbo]

I knew that was Obama I saw behind the woodshed sneaking a cig.

[txbo]

Roger says:
May 5, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Texas’s firefighting forces are largely Volunteer fire departments, with some paid city/county/Emerg Svcs Districts firefighters. The Texas Forest Service has only a handful of fire folks beyond the 54 East Texas counties (which was their original responssibility). The other 200 counties want the Texas Forest Service to manage their large fires, though there is no budget to pay the large fire suppression bills. And Texans do not want any new taxes, they just want that fire protection for free, and believe California is crazy the way they tax folks. Maybe CA would not be broke if they had FEMA pay most of CALFIRE’s suppression budget.
Texas owed the Federal Fire Fund (Albuquerque Service Center) 75 million dollars at the beginning of 2011. They have been charging the current fires to the Federal Fire Fund, on a reimbursable fire number (the idea is that the state will pay the feds for the costs incurred on that account). So they do not even have to come up with the up-front money to get reimbursed, they just charge it to the Federal Fire Fund, and if the FEMA FMAGrant gets approved, they only owe 25%, which can be paid, interest free, at their leisure. Like an interest free loan, the Federal Fire Fund. Many of the Texas Forest Service’s salaries are also charged to FMAGrants, and many of their personnel are on Resource Orders working those incidents (many as Technical Specialists). The Texas Forest Service’s personnel budget may actually MAKE money during these incidents due to salary savings.
The Texas Forest Service learned this racket a long time ago, and continues to juggle the FMAG accounts to pay for fire suppression costs.
Faced with the article’s above-mentioned 30% cut in budget, this terrible fire season (while their legislature is in session) was a great way to show the legislators why they have been requesting budget increases. Maybe the Obama administration knows this, and they want Texas to come up with a State Wildfire Funding Plan, rather than the current Plan to depend on FEMA for firefighting budgets.

[Deleted]

Interesting a state the size of Texas doesn't HAVE that fund. But, no state taxes there still, right? And Texans like it that way. Interesting.

[txbo]

Much of this land would be burned anyway under the controll and supervision of local and state agencies. However, the Texas Legislature has cut funding.
All of this finger-pointing at Washington has been going on as the Texas Legislature passed bills cutting 40 percent of funding for the Texas Forest Service programs designed to fight wildfires. Go figure

[Deleted]

Interesting a state the size of Texas doesn't HAVE that fund. But, no state taxes there still, right? And Texans like it that way. Interesting.

Hey we save our money for important stuff.......Like illegal aliens & enough electricity to fry bad people.

[Deleted]

Budget cuts are tough. And TX battles the same $$$$ issues as AZ with the illegals issue. Az has state tax, and we are still in a world of hurt. Can't imagine no state tax. But AZ has no huge wealth like TX, either. Lots of people and businesses come to TX for tax reasons. Wonder how many would leave if a state tax was started?

[Deleted]

LOL, tex!! Man, I sure miss Texas. AZ is okay, though, just really tough when it comes to $$$$ issues. Danged illegals!!!!

[Tennesseer]

"A county official in the Texas Panhandle is now blaming a federal agency for starting one of the fires through carelessness.

Tom Edwards, the county attorney in rural Motley County east of Lubbock, said on Friday that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives was responsible on Tuesday for sparking a fire that consumed 150 acres."

"Texas Governor Rick Perry has publicly criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for declining the state's request for a major disaster declaration for wildfires that have scorched some 2.5 million acres since November."

The article in the OP states the Feds started a 'fire' not "fires' as the thread title states.

The Feds should pay for the fire they started. They are responsible for 0.006% of the total acreage burned since November.

[Deleted]

We have lightening fires in the mountains here in Tucson from time to time, right before monsoon season. BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ are spent fighting them, but nothing works until the monsoons come and put the fires out. They fight them because people insist in building homes in those fire prone mountains. Seems a waste of money to me, fighting mother nature to put out fires designed to burn off old undergrowth. But-- what do I know? Usually they are fighting to save a few cabins and cell phone towers, etc.

[Deleted]

Agree. My family always had beach houses in Surfside, Tx. Son still owns one there. Never had insurance, took the damage and rebuilt as hurricanes caused damage. As it should be. Goes with the territory of owning a beach house. My son's beach house in Surfside stood, but sustained damage, in Ike. He put together a website, gathered a lifetime of friends and others that had enjoyed 3 generations in the family beach house. They brought in tons of food and beer and rebuilt in a several day party/project. As it should be. Wish I could have been there!!!
;D

[mmhmm]

"Unfortunately, a fragment ignited some grass," Crowley said. "As far as the community, we're working with them to let them know how to go about making a claim with the government."

Looks to me like the community is being informed as to how to receive recompense for their loss, so how do we know the government won't pay for the damage caused by the fire their people helped start by accident?