It's not the lighting of a match- it's the crates of gunpowder lying all around. It seems no amount of prevention can act on this scale.
This is why city centers no longer include wooden structures and Notre Dame's reconstruction will be non-flammable. Unfortunately mother nature hasn't gotten the message. Or maybe she's tied up petro-chemical industry broom closet.
9
The Times is a New York City newspaper. I have lived my entire life in this city. I never knew that you could start a fire by hammering a stake in the ground and then seeing a resultant small fire you would not be able to stamp it out. I had no idea. So I would say the article was extremely informative. Here we think of dry as the opposite of wet. We are not accustomed to thinking of different degrees of dryness. Thank you New York Times.
61
@Steve, Yeah, but down South a popular method of eradicating wasp nest is to set them on fire. I think that is what happened rather than just driving a stake in the ground.
19
@Steve Three years ago, a driver hauling something behind his truck started several brush fires. The connector kept throwing off sparks for miles up and down the highway. He had no clue and kept driving. Within 30 miles, he had set off five separate fires that took days to put out. California, where I've lived all my life, is indeed a tinder box during summer and fall months.
20
@Steve
Where I live in California, the County will come destroy in ground wasp (or yellow-jacket) nests at no cost to me. I had this done last year. It occurs to me now why -- they don't want us doing it. Another non-professional method is to pour kerosene down the hole, and I can see some danger in THAT method.
25
I'm still trying to reconcile "forced into retirement by a back injury" and "throwing a nearby trampoline"
13
No... the real story is that the conditions were so badly desiccated due to the climate change-induced drought, that it took just a small spark to start this major conflagration.
12
This story provides a lot of valuable information. However, I take exception to the arrogant and highly subjective descriptions of Mr. Kile. The writer reveals his bias against Mr. Kile when he says Mr. Kile seemed "more bewildered than remorseful" about starting the fire. That's judgment not journalism.
And why is Mr. Kile's yard described as "surrounded by piles of mechanical equipment and an informal fleet of cars, some of which do not appear to be operational." So? Is this relevant?
And why does the writer need to tell us that Mr. Kile "says he spends most of his time watching television and dresses comfortably for that purpose."
It seems the writer has passed judgment on Mr. Kile and he is inviting the reader to pile on. Let's remember that the report on the fire said Mr. Kile was not negligent.
44
It is called the "Ranch Fire". It is not the "so-called Ranch Fire". That term implies that it was inappropriately named. The name given to the fire by the appropriate agency is the correct name. It is disrespectful to imply otherwise.
17
Now that I've learned how easy it is to start a fire with a hammer and a metal stake (and a single strike!), I'm for sure adding them to the gear for my next camping trip.
7
There are those who will blame Mr. Kile but he and others, are just going about their lives. Unless everybody moves out of the area, it can and will happen again. And even if all move out, a lightning strike could set a fire off. This will keep happening.
62
@sjs, since you live in Connecticut, you may not understand the culture in California. In many areas, we live under frequent, almost constant, threat of fire in the late spring, summer and fall months. The sight and smell of smoke is not an uncommon occurrence. So, yes, most of us are after thinking about the possibility of a wildfire, and we take precautions. I know that it is hard for you to understand. I moved here from Connecticut 13 years ago, and the idea of living under threat of wildfire was completely foreign to me. So, yes, Californians have the right to pass judgment on the reason who caused the fire. It was a stupid mistake that caused a firefighter’s life.
14
Not surprised. People from the eastern US don't understand how incredibly dry parts of the western US get in the late spring and early summer. Our humidity in southern Nevada has been less the 10 percent most of the week. Another major problem in most areas of the West below 6000 feet is Cheatgrass, an invasive species from Europe. Almost anything will ignite it and the lightest wind will rapidly spread the fire. Its like having tissue paper everywhere.
47
In the panic which inevitably follows the discovery of a fire, it is easy for people to forget one simple rule: call 911 immediately. Even if you plan to attempt to fight the fire yourself, you need to call 911 first. Your attempts to extinguish the fire will likely fail and, even if you do think the fire is out, chances are good that it will reignite. Every second counts once a fire has been discovered and having the fire department on the way even as you are attempting to extinguish the flames could make enough of a difference to avert a catastrophe. Call 911 first.
166
My thoughts, why would someone spin the wheels of their truck when he had water nearby, that would be the first action; kicking up dirt is what a little kid might do.
7
I'm local to the area and can tell you that there's one aspect of the story the reporter didn't tease out: gasoline. You don't just drive a post into an active nest of ground wasps: they'd swarm and attack and you'd get covered in stings. Instead, you first pour gasoline in the hole and then you light it to kill them. Maybe Kile didn't light it, but for sure that is why any sparks he made caught and spread so quickly.
94
@Olaf S. Excellent point and gets to why a number of us likely read the article, trying to understand how 'stakes' take out nests. But, in fairness, yes, the NEXT step would be applying gas, but we don't know if he got to the next step, and I'd say it's unlikely, as one first hammers in the pipe, then pours gas through it (the whole point of installing the pipe). If indeed the spark caused the fire, he wouldn't have applied the gas yet. But at least your point explains to others what he was doing hammering a pipe into the ground to kill wasps.
30
@Olaf S.
The fire investigators are of the opinion that sparks from the metal shavings from the stake are what started the fire. Do you think you are more informed than they are?
14
@Olaf S. Considering that the investigators managed to find the tiny metal shavings that ignited the tinder, I'd bet they tested the area for all manner of accelerants as well.
45
This story would have been helpful enough if the individual was not named and his home not identified.
Put yourself in his shoes. He did nothing unusual. He is now the focus of what could be a lifetime of harrassment.
That being said, I am left with the thought that living in a dry tinder world is risky, indeed. Much like that oceanside property with such a great view...
203
@Bob Bruce Anderson He is still responsible and his actions were careless.
12
No, he was not careless or negligent. That's the point of this article.
27
Did nothing unusual? When was the last time you decided to take out a wasps nest with a spike and a hammer? This was not a rational action if he was allergic to stings...
33
Oh how I wish it was illegal for Californians to smoke cigarettes in non designated smoking areas, or just ban their sale; yeah I know unrealistic because the addicts will always find a way... but it would help a smidge.
2
@Alison "...it would help a smidge" is the war cry of the Nanny State. Wild fires are terrifyingly destructive and can start in a myriad ways; there is no way to legislate them all out of existence, just as there is no way to protect us absolutely from everything else in life that might conceivably cause harm. Here in California, just about every commercial establishment carries a prominent Proposition 65 warning sign, telling us that there may be substance known to the State of California to possibly cause cancer. Last month, the nannies tried to put the same sign on every coffee shop in the state. Their ubiquity, of course, makes the signs utterly meaningless.
It is obviously necessary to take rational precautions against demonstrated risk. The US, however, is today so timid and scared that we have become a nation of cowards.
1
"There was nothing I could do." Really? Most fires are started by people, whether through arson or negligence. Why was he not charged with negligence? I guess he doesn't have the pockets that Pacific Gas and Electric has.
PS Looks like this one cannot be labeled as climate change. Please NYTImes, stop jumping to that conclusion. It damages the validity of climate change when real.
2
@Ma: It's labeled as climate change because climate change has made much more likely the sort of excessive heat and drought that cause a simple action (like hitting a piece of metal with a hammer) to spark a wildfire.
16
@Ma Perhaps because hammering a stake into the ground is not a negligent act? As for climate change, fires themselves are not started by climate change, but the conditions that cause them to occur certainly are.
15
@Ma The hot, dry conditions continuing month after month, hotter and drier than long term records, ARE climate change. Those very conditions make fire more likely to start, faster to spread, and more difficult to fight.
13
Cost of California wildfires last year was estimated at 3 billion. how many drone planes aided by sattelite imagery and other meticulously scattered sensors could you buy with 3bn a year? Sensor or sattelite detects fire, 50 drone planes immediately take off to attack fire as soon as its detected. Reaper drone costs 28 million, upsize it and add water dropping equipment- 50 million each, maybe(just spitballing). few hundred billion for sensors and operational efforts. set it and forget it😁
3
@William William they were dropping flame suppression chemicals within an hour of the report...which is blazingly fast...and it still wasn't fast enough.
The biggest problem here is a combination of uniformed behavior, climate change, and people living in areas that increase the risk of both fires occurring and needing to be addressed.
CA does a pretty good job fighting these, but it isn't nearly enough.
4
"... some of which do not appear to be operational."
Yep, that paints the picture quite well. Thank you.
8
The fire incident report by the State of California seems to be complete, but there are inconsistencies within it. A four-wheeler vehicle was eliminated as a source of the fire (as being too cool to have started it), but that was inconsistent with the testimony of the rancher.
According to the rancher: "He said he unhooked his trailer and tried to put the fire out by "kicking up dirt" ahead of it with his four-wheeler." (p. 16)
However, the fire investigator provided of summary of ignition sources that: "...eliminated the following fire causes. [...] Vehicle - I did not observe any sign of a vehicle caused fire. [REDACTED] said that his four-wheeler sat for approximately 1 hour before the fire started and was located on the other side of the landing. [...] I eliminated vehicle as an ignition source and the cause of the fire."" (p. 16-17)
Also, the fire investigation did not try to reproduce the ignition source. According to their report, the fire was caused by a : "...spark or hot metal fragment came from a hammer driving a 24-inch metal concrete stake into the ground." (p. 3) However, he did not try to reproduce the ignition source, or provide other evidence that a spark or hot metal fragment from a hammer blow on a concrete stake was of sufficient temperature to ignite the type of dry grass in the vicinity.
Cite:
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION, Mendocino Unit. Wildland Fire Investigation, Ranch Incident of 27 JUL 2018. Case No. 18CAMEU008646
3
It's time for the environmental activists to push for population control around the world, and time for the largest Christian denomination to stop paying lip service to climate change while prohibiting the use of effective birth control. When people overbreed their borders, the result is war, famine, desertification and disease. Anyone who claims to promote peace and environmentalism should have as a primary objective the encouragement of birth control. The US and western Europe do the world no favors by offering the pressure relief valve of immigration to countries that do nothing to help themselves on this point.
25
Driving a stake into a wasp's nest to control them? That makes no sense at all. That would make them swarm. I suspect there's more to this than just driving in a stake. BTW, the fire season has started already in NorCal with a vengeance. It's now hot and dry after recent rains. Loads of formerly green, now brown ground cover in the hills. 97 degrees (36 Celsius) two days ago in San Francisco!
19
@post-meridian it makes perfect sense if you've ever had to deal with an underground wasps nest, which you must not have or you wouldn't have made your comment. There is a typically a narrow hole that the wasps crawl in and out of, and they can't swarm anywhere when the hole is plugged, that's the whole point. Personally, I would have pounded a thick wooden stake in, but I could see using a metal spike like you buy at Home Depot for laying out property lines.
8
Carry On. Chin Up. Muddle Through.
Thank you for injecting humor into an otherwise grim subject. Laughed so hard at the idea of Mr.Kile dressed in comfortable clothing amid his abandoned fleet of vehicles while musing on the need to get outta Dodge cause of the risk of fires 'coming back'.
11
@MJS Prov
Or, it's a story written by a NYC snob who's not familiar with life beyond his borders of what rates as normal.
3
@Marian
well i've had a few beaters on blocks over the years, and am style challenged...and i laughed too!
7
@Marian
Oh come on, there are multitudes of Mr. Kiles in every city and state.
13
Plugging the hole in a nest of ground bees doesn't work. Better to set up a shop vacuum to suck up any creature that flies into its range.
3
@Don Better to leave them alone to live their lives - they do have a role to play in nature.
11
might need a pretty long extension cord
5
As the Richard Dreyfuss character in the movie Down And Out In Beverly Hills shrieked while diving into the pool while clutching a cordless phone to save Nick Nolte -- "Call 911!!! Call 911!!!"
It's human nature to think one can quickly stamp out a fire oneself, but, as others here have pointed out, it's essential to "Call 911 first." Seconds count. Especially when one is living in a giant fuel tank, which is where I live. (I moved to LA and still need to correct my NYTimes address.)
13
Not only this article, and the statements of the rancher, but also the findings of the forensic team seem very odd.
9
@Henry I wish somebody would demonstrate that this is even possible. Isn't there a principle of physics that there must be sufficient mass to supply energy above a certain threshold? And would tiny slivers be enough?
3
@CarolT friction is what creates a spark. friction is a counteracting directional force. force = mass * acceleration. if you swing a hammer down fast, it doesn't necessarily need a lot of mass to generate friction if you accelerate your swing fast enough.
3
I blame the first line in most of the human religious books" go forth and multiply". This will inevitably lead to armageddon, even without additional divine intervention.
13
I'm picturing this poor guy's situation in my head and I can't help but hear the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" theme playing in the background.
9
Civilization exists at the whim of Mother Nature. Mankind as the ultimate parasite in this world isn’t helping one bit. Instead of being shepherds of our Earth, we just breed and consume. Not a good plan for human survival. The Universe won’t miss us one bit when we are gone. So, go out and consume today while you can in case the stuff you enjoy, like food, is gone tomorrow.
15
@BSZIndeed. I just returned from the grocery store where the Maine summer tourists are out in force, carts piled high with packaged food and beverages.
2
Everyone should understand that wildfires are as natural a part of western ecosystems as grass and trees. These areas are designed to burn, and they are primed to be touched off at the drop of a hat. Fires were here long before man settled in their domains. The blame for all the devastation the fires cause shouldn't fall on whoever happened to be nearby when they start, it should fall on over-development.
16
If driving a metal stake into the ground can ignite a fire, then it is obvious that this fire would have broken out in any case. It took only one spark.
The named person was just unhappy enough that he caused the spark. If he didn't somebody else would have in short order.
Remember there was a fire recently (do not recall which one) because a car had a flat tire and the rim on the road caused a spark.
9
Years ago I learned that fire is an amazing thing. One night I decided to use the fireplace in my Denver apartment to take the chill off. A DAY LATER, I put the coals in a box near the fireplace to take down to the dumpster when I returned from work (they did not appear warm and I could not see embers). I returned to my apartment and a hole that had burned through the carpet and was lucky I had not burned down the entire building. I instantly remembered why they tell you when camping to pour water several times on the camp fire and scatter the ashes. While not the same as Mr. Kile's situation, it pays to remember in dry climates static electricity is ever present and despite our thinking to the contrary, fires are EASY to start.
19
Why wasn't that man prosecuted? Using a steel stake to pound into rocky ground during the hottest driest weather in the area is negligence. I don't believe his tale one bit.
1
@Jeff Prosecuted for what? By that logic any activity on his own property should be "prosecuted."
Some people always need someone else to blame. It was accidental, and unintentional, and caused by the weather conditions. Hence the word "accident."
And we aren't required to have you or anyone else "believe his tale." The source of the fire was fully researched by experts, and if it was caused by negligence that would have been discovered and he would have been charged. Those experts found the spot and the slivers from the spike and corroborated his "tale," believe it or not.
7
I'm a westerner who worked his way through college fighting wildfires. Later, I wrote about them. This is a GREAT article because it tells the truth about the interface between humans and wildlands.
When it gets hot and the grass and brush dry out, there is nothing you can do except wait because it's coming. You know it. You feel it. You just don't know where or how.
It is a helpless feeling because, as the west dries out year over year, it gets bigger and worse.
It is like you are being stalked by an invisible animal that is plotting to take everything away and the animal gets loose when somebody pounds a stake in the ground.
That is what it's like.
116
@John Harrington
Thanks. Well done.
9
I think it's kind of silly to blame one person for a wildfire like the ones we see now. This is a man made problem by building in wildland urban interface and climate change. If this man would have not start that fire, it could been a lightning strike, a exhaust pipe or something else.
9
@Two in Memphis: Ah, but the man did a risky thing when anyone who lives in that area knows that its takes only the barest spark to set off a wildfire. What kind of idiot would pound a steel stake into rocky soil in the middle of the worse drouth seen for years? You need to understand that a very dry year in Tennessee is a damp year in California. The tiniest little spark can start a holocaust of a fire her in CA.
7
@Jeff I worked for years on a dry mountain in 100 degree plus heat doing exactly that kind of work. Using an iron digging bar in rocky soil, pounding in metal stakes and T-bars to string barbed wire and sheep wire, driving cars and ATV's, running gas powered weed eaters and mowers.
By your logic ANY activity on his ranch in those conditions should be "prosecuted." Driving a car with a hot exhaust? Prosecute him! He's an idiot! Cooking on a hot stove? Send him to jail, because he "should have known!" (and you need someone to blame.) Please. You really don't know what you're talking about. The guy didn't make a mistake. It was an accident.
8
Despite having the best snowfall in years, several times the usual level, the mountainous center region of Colorado is primed to burn.
The Rockies are filled with millions of trees killed by the Pine Bark Beetle and when that fire starts it will be one of the great fires in our lifetime. There are two types of forests, those that have burned and those that will.
Here in AZ we already have multiple fires burning thousands of acres. It's 110F today in Phoenix....and dry.
13
It's essential to call a spade a spade. We live in a world where we are rushing towards the first day of summer and most farmers in the Midwest have yet to plant the corn and soy crops due to too much rain and too much moisture in the ground. On the western side of the continent, fire dangers loom as a result of the obverse impact of climate change. The problem is not a consequence of the random malefactor - it's systemic.
Who do we call to accounts? The corporations and their political bloodhounds that greedily bay for profits created through the destruction of nature and, with that, humanity itself.
What's the answer? Create a new political party of the working people. Boot these spineless politicians from office. Nationalize the energy industry, the auto manufacturers, major segments of transportation, health care (including the pharmaceutical industry), and the banks.
Implement a program to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The lives of future generations and, indeed, all of humanity are at stake.
Facilitate and implement a form of democratic rule where all adults are kept informed and required to participate and all those holding office are paid no more than a decent living wage and subject to immediate recall. Those who choose to enter public service must serve the public. End the role of big money in politics.
Otherwise, consider the alarming and uncontrolled wildfires a metaphor for our very lives. They are, indeed, now going up in smoke.
16
@Edits true every misery in our life is because corporations and extreme wealth ( family’s with dozens of billions we have no clue) have found the can have laws written, changed or removed for a surprisingly small donation, the companies that got gop to make importing or negotiating lower drug prices illegal, made keeping digital records on guns, or deaths illegal they probably bought of politicians with a couple days profit.
Yes straying of topic
1
Simply put... vote next year only for people who take the threat of climate change extremely seriously and are willing to legislate policies strong enough to make a difference. I live not far from the area described in this story and the ever-present threat of fire is now ingrained in the consciousness of those of us living here just as earthquakes have always been. This cannot just be accepted as the new normal. It's irresponsible.
20
The conditions which establish the risk of wildfires is increased because of climate change. End of story.
12
I question the validity of the findings of the investigators. Something about the rancher sounds a little off, also, like he might have been misled about the true nature of the interview.
4
As the fire season arrives, this would be a good time for trump to issue a reminder for people to rake and/or vacuum the forest floor to prevent wild fires. The residents of "Pleasure, California," of course, won't need to.
13
@Paul Wertz valid point, but I think you mean "Paradise, California."
3
@EL Ripley...It is Paradise, but while he was on a visit there, trump called it "Pleasure." Words are difficult for someone who doesn't read.
6
"On Mr. Kile’s 160-acre ranch, the grass is nearly waist high — and dried up."
Sounds like poor land management. Even in the Southeast, we cut our grass in our fields. The fire risk is too high to leave tall grass for a season.
12
@Chris
The rolling hills in NorCal include an ecosystem called oak savannah. On the rocky soil between the widely spaced oaks grows grass. Folks don't plant this grass on their ranches, it's native, and fodder for cows.
"Here in California, fruit hangs heavy on the vine.
There's no gold, thought I'd warn ya'.
And the hills turn brown in the summer time."
-Kate Wolf
6
I grew up in California during the 50s and 60s. Every spring and summer included burning off dry brush. Risky, but dutifully overseen by firefighters, us and all our neighbors.
Government recognized the need and provided the necessary tools. Taxpayer money funded it. No one was hurt and no one complained.
Mr. Kile cannot be expected to predict what happened. Now, we must. California
8
@Mary Tepper when one has an ‘accident’ in a car one or other is usually ‘at fault’ - intentional or not. Mr Kiles should be held responsible to the fullest extent. Insurance. Other assets.
3
@Tamza. That’s pure vindictiveness and will accomplish nothing except ruin a man’s life. If it hadn’t been this particular spark that set it off it would have been a lightning strike or any one of tens of other potential causes.
4
Instead of worrying so much about how the fire got accidentally started we should be examining ourselves. Every day most of us live a life with a huge carbon footprint. Every day our governments (and not just the US government) dawdle and prevaricate rather than implement the laws and policies that could slow climate change. We are the ones who covered California with dry tinder waiting to explode in flames. Only action will save us now.
23
@Malcolm We can examine ourselves all we want, but as long as our “honorable” politicians accept money from BigBusiness that cares nothing about the environment, and denies the reality of climate change, these disasters will continue.
8
@Malcolm Well, no, "we" did not cover the state with dry tinder. The cycle of wet and dry seasons in California - grass that grows in the winter and then dries each spring and summer - predates our entry into the state. You are right that climate change is exacerbating the problem as it leads to drought and higher temperatures. As I type this, in a community in the San Gabriel Valley, I can see dry mountains and hills out of both the front and back of my house - they are gold and brown now, but were green a month or so ago. As we go into summer, we start sniffing the air when we walk outside, hoping to not smell smoke.
8
@Malcolm: The Western fire issue is too complex for anyone from the wet East Coast to understand. It is not valid nor helpful to blame all environmental changes on people. The long term weather is cyclic. The fault of we humans is that her in the West we have far too long suppressed very wildland fire which has led to dense forests and scrub lands with enormous amounts of dead vegetation. Humans have suppressed wildland fires for centuries. We are now paying the price.
6
Blaming this man for decades of incompetent fire management is wrong. He may have started some sparks, but the fires spread because fuels have not been managed in urban areas, and prescribed fires have not been used as they should be.
18
@Ricia Urban areas abut the wilderness all over California. I am in a town founded in the 1880's built right below the San Gabriel Mountains. Believe me, it is not possible to remove all the nearby fuel. Brush clearing can only take you so far.
7
@Ricia The Ranch Fire and the Paradise Fire both occurred in very rural, not urban, areas, and were mostly fueled by grasses and vegetation that is very hard to abate in rural California. Can more be done by rural property owners to protect their acreage against fire danger? Possibly. But, arguably, the biggest cause of wildfires in CA is the steadily changing climate. Hotter, drier weather--even in the Bay Area--is now the norm. Our "fire season" has expanded from 4 months when I moved here in 1998 to 6 months now, and there's no end in sight.
19
@Ricia a driver cannot blame potholes or gravel on the pavement for a collision. Me Kiles IS at fault.
1
For those "tisk tisking" the NYT for "outing" the man who created this conflagration, I reply it is well within good journalism to do exactly that.
It is clear from the article it is a freak accident, not negligence. The article also states he wasn't found at fault. And in terms of a reason to disclose him...I personally want to know what lead to it and why it occurred. Have you ever thought that maybe JUST MAYBE he doesn't care since he feels no remorse but considers it an act of nature?
With the tinderbox that is much of the west, the bigger issue is the fact that folks do not adjust their behavior for their environment. By hearing from him and his general laissez faire attitude toward the mess he created...you definitely get a sense as to just how responsible he is likely to be when it comes to the environment around him.
Does he deserve that level of scrutiny? Well, judging from his "meh" response and the tens of thousands of acres burned....
I would say yeah, he can handle it.
18
@Jack Banging on a metal stake with a metal hammer in the middle of a high risk fire zone is not negligence? He's a rancher and should know better. Why didn't he just pour some gasoline down the wasp nest and light it with a match? There is no cure for stupid.
15
@minidictum I think few ranchers would know that pounding a metal stake on a random summer day could cause a fire like that. It wasn't even a red flag day.
6
@minidictum "There is no cure for stupid." Sure isn't. So why suggest starting a gasoline fire when just a spark will do?
7
The teenager that started the 49,000 acre blaze in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon by lighting off fireworks during a burn ban in 2017 was never named for fear of retribution by members of the public.
7
@Al He was 15 years old , so that's why they couldn't name him. He was ordered to pay 36 million in restitution.
6
Naming this individual is deeply unethical and reprehensible. The state report correctly left him anonymous to avoid subjecting him to anger and perhaps even danger for completely innocent actions. The Times should have done the same.
Taking the next step and adding details about his attire, television habits, the messiness of his porch and the non-working vehicles in his yard unnecessarily demeans him in a way that rightfully brings opprobrium on the Times.
The article would have lost nothing by leaving out his name and the location of his home.
79
@Jason Stein I agree with you on this. "He seemed more bewildered than remorseful" is a non-objective, non-journalistic statement of opinion that sets a tone. The times could have withheld his identity.
12
@Jason Stein The man commited a crime but was not punished for it. Public disclosure was warranted.
@Jeff He was found responsible but not negligent, so your assertion that he committed a crime is faulty. It is not appropriate for the NY Times to have disclosed his identify if CalFire didn't see the need to do so. There is nothing to punish this gentleman for. Would you also say that the person whose flat tire/bare rim sparked the Carr fire committed a crime? At what point does normal living in the arid west become punishable to you?
10
Why exactly does a boat have a wheel?
1
@False Profit
I'm willing to bet that you have never trailered a boat.
12
@False Profit when it's on a trailer.
But we were told it was due to climate change. Guess not.
1
@Jackson Climate change doesn't "cause" fires, it causes fires from ordinary mishaps like this one to spread rapidly and uncontrollably due to debilitating drought.
30
Mr. Kile started the fire, but his own home was spared? What are the chances?
3
@Ms. Pea
Not that unusual. A fire starts and moves, generally, in one direction according to the prevailing winds, from which it fans out. One reason the Atlas and Tubbs fires in Napa and Sonoma counties were so bad was that the wind that day was not only strong, it changed direction qickly and frequently. It was a strong windstorm which knocked down power lines (and trees) and became a firestorm.
1
@Observor
Agreed. Once there was fire at a college I was attending and it burned so hot it even destroyed the metal I-beams. Less than 2 feet away was a message board covered in flyers. It didn't burn because of the direction of the wind.
3
I’m trying to figure out how a metal stake would have any effect on a hornet nest. 🤔
14
@Laurie D Perhaps that information is contained in the article.
1
@Laurie D
It would plug the hole they use to get in and out, like locking the door on a prison cell.
2
This article fails to answer the question in most readers' minds:
After the smoke cleared and, after months of firefighting and millions in expenses, this terribly tragic fire was finally out, were the wasps still alive?
24
"He says he spends most of his time watching television and dresses comfortably for that purpose."
One of the many reasons I love the NYTimes.
13
On all reasonable fire analysis, you have to ASSUME ignition and put the focus on the control the spread of fire. If the low energy and short lived spark could ignite the brush then the fire could NOT have been prevented. I live in the Cherokee National Forest and this year has been a very wet one, but I am still spending evenings and weekends clearing brush, maintaining fire breaks and burning brush piles when the weather permits. A dry year is coming.
7
@etkindh1
I agree, more funding to firefighters for controlled burns to reduce the likelihood of such a massive fire.
2
I hope the NYT is now planning on funding the poor guy's witness protection program costs.....
11
Mr. Natural sez: "Always Use The Right Tool For The Job."
Unless he mistook the stake was a snake that ate wasps, this was a stupid thing to do. Plain and simple. Please, people, THINK before you act.
2
@MJB
This coming from a guy who cites a comic book character as a source of wisdom; who lives arrogantly in an urban region 2,500 miles away from the focus of the event; who probably has never had to deal with nasty wasps building an underground nest; or lived in a dry environment like that of NorCal in the summer. But he is good at judging a man in a panic situation.
6
So this man, who apparently has turned a scenic spot into a junkyard, and whose skill for selecting the manner in which he eliminates a ground nest of wasps is non-existent, for whom the land is not something to be treasured, but is just there to be utilized for his needs, which lean heavily toward “its where I dump my junk”, has been outed as the person who started a major fire? Good. His breathtaking stupidity caused horrendous damage. Let him endure some of the consequences of his poor choices.
13
Just an aside from the main issue. When someone is "forced into retirement", is that a gentle way of saying he is on disability? What I don't understand is that someone with a back injury can't do other jobs that are not as strenuous? He seems to be doing quite active things around his ranch.
I had a man come stain my deck, on his hands and knees doing all the spindles. Said he was helping his nephew. He said he was on disability from his job. When queried what type of job, he replied "I worked in human resources"! Really. I should have reported him.
14
@tennislady
It appears for you assumptions are just fine in assessing the situation, why bother to ind out why he was on a disability pension.It could have have been any number for reasons not associated with a physical disability.
3
@tennislady Maybe it was a mental health problem. I could certainly see how an HR job during an era of PC could drive someone nuts.
4
God, I’d be too embarrassed to talk to reporters.
7
Does anyone really believe that a man who is allergic to wasp stings would try to seal the nest entrance with a metal spike?
We're talking about ground-nesting yellowjackets here. They are very aggressive and very fast-moving. The first blow of the hammer would bring them out in a swarm. The idea is beyond crazy.
Nor do I believe that a hammer would create a fire-igniting spark by a single strike against a metal spike. Even two or three.
I can believe that he started the fire (but how did his own house survive?), but I don't believe this story.
I did, however, have a grass fire on my own property a couple of summers ago. It began near a traffic intersection; we reckon that someone tossed a still-burning cigarette butt out a car window and onto the grassy shoulder. (The fire department crew came quickly and put out the fire with their brooms.)
8
@Duane McPherson
A light breeze with the house upwind of the fire would certainly explain why his house was out of the fire's path. Occam's Razor would apply.
8
@Duane McPherson
Tossed, broken bottles focusing the sun's rays like a lens are another frequent source of fires that start by roadsides.
4
@Doug McKenna,
I'm not suggesting that he did not start the fire, but only that it did not start in the way he reported.
2
Dig up a anthill, pick it up with a grain shovel and toss it on top of the hole.
3
@Guy Walker
Obviously the New York Times is an east coast paper so lots of commenters from the east coast but that they think they understand fires in Northern California, or any where in the west for that matter, just makes me laugh.
This article was trying to inform those not familiar with the situation what it's like out west, fire-wise. Many folks just didn't get it.
2
This article is about fate or random chance? What weather warnings, if any, were in effect that day? What is the take-away from here for the future fire prevention? Sensationalism here but not much substance, NYT!
3
Every day between June and November is a fire warning. We do not get rain, at all. Grasses dry out. Fires are part of the habitat, as hurricanes are to the East Coast. On hot windy days, you don't do any yard work. This includes mowing the lawn, taking, etc. All it takes is a spark to start a fire. This man should have known better, especially since he is a farmer.
2
@oakman It was not a red flag day. It was a random 100 degree day in July with no wind.
However, the Carr Fire was raging in the Redding area, and had drawn resources from the Mendocino area as well as being the major focus of CalFire. The River Fire started an hour later about a half hour's drive away (rumor says by a chain dragging from a vehicle), and in an area that was much more dangerous and populated. Resources that might have been concentrated on the Ranch Fire were necessarily divided.
The Ranch Fire burned but was in open land and not particularly threatening for the first two days. Then the wind came up.
I think it's best to think of it as a series of unfortunate events, none of which were terribly likely or damning individually, but cascaded into a nightmare.
3
Tinder dry areas and global climate change are huge issues. But like the school officer in Parkland FL, let's go after this one person and ignore the bigger picture! Thanks to the Times for naming the man even though the report doesn't. Very responsible.
14
Obviously, Mr. Kile consented to being interviewed and understood that his name would appear in the resulting article. What amazes me is that he still does not understand that what he did was wrong. The scary thing, as the article alluded, is that so many Californians are equally oblivious to the fact that their actions can lead to a wildfire. Last summer, my neighbor decided to burn his dry green waste in the middle of the dry, hot summer. Thank goodness someone noticed the smoke and called the local fire station. But what the heck was he thinking?
12
@Dana
Operative word is "thinking."
3
This would be humorous if the results had not been so tragic.
Had he waited fo darkness and sprayed the nest with hornet killer he would have spared himself a horrible experience.
18
I’m not sure that doxxing the guy was such a good idea. It will put him at risk.
132
NYT: WHY on Earth would you name this poor man? If the point of the story was to talk about how California is a tinderbox it could have been achieved without naming this man. We are all too aware of the extreme harassment that happens for things much less impactful than this. This does not feel like responsible journalism-what was the point of this?
215
@Jflan--It sounds like the report identified the property well enough that anyone could look in public records to find out the owner's name. I don't think under those circumstances the reporter was that irresponsible.
5
@Jflan
1. Maybe The Times asked Mr. Kile if they could use his name?
2. Mr. Kile seemed to be cordial with the journalist during his interview, evidence that he has less concern for his name appearing in the paper than you have.
9
After reading this article, I am reminded of Ray Bradbury’s butterfly effect and chaos theory.
18
So I wondered, was his ranch on public lands? So many ranchers have extremely low cost access to OUR public lands (not to mention all the federal dollars that goes toward servicing them). If so, than maybe the time has come to remove them. With climate change and the propensity for fires, maybe that needs to end.
9
@BMD We need a moratorium on the use of the word "so" at the beginning of a sentence.
37
@Henry Be warned - don't read Seamus Heaney's wonderful translation of Beowulf. Everyone else - if you haven't read it, do it now.
2
@BMD - Cattle owned by subsidized, welfare ranchers cause tremendous damage to our invaluable public lands. It costs public lands agencies more to administer grazing leases than the below-market leases generate in fees. As a result, we effectively PAY ranchers to destroy our public lands. Few of these are Ma and Pa Kettle "family" ranchers. Most are corporate agribusinesses and grazing consortiums.
Cattle turn our fragile desert riparian areas into mudpits, destroy endangered riparian species habitat, trample easily-damaged cryptobiotic soils and spread cheatgrass and other invasives.
In UT, as with most western states, nearly 75% of our water is used for cattle or to grow forage, mostly water-hungry alfalfa. All over the American west, inefficient center-pivot irrigators spray water 24/7, wasting much of it via evapotranspiration. Much of our water, in the form of alfalfa, is then shipped to China and other water-hungry, dairy-and-beef producing countries.
Stop public lands welfare grazing. Return public lands to public lands!
32
My parents house had a wasp nest under their porch. My brother used anti-freeze which killed the wasps. He removed the nest and tossed it in a garbage can.
5
@Miss Anne Thrope Ouch!
1
Then their dog crawled under the porch, licked up the sweet anti-freeze and died?
12
Interesting idea to interview individuals unintentionally sparking these fires....but it comes off as judgmental of the man that started the Ranch fire....more “bewildered” than “remorseful”......remorseful seems better applied to an intentional or grossly negligent act. A a society should we judge these individuals as responsible for the fires resulting from routine, everyday activities and the climate conditions creating tinder boxes? I suspect many feel that way, but I also think bewilderment is reasonable response.
Also....why the dig about his attire??? Not sure the reader is any more informed by knowing he watches a lot of TV and dresses like it.
212
@Suzan, that's an interesting thought, I think a reader would wonder if he felt remorseful though, I know I did and not because I necessarily think he should. And I didn't take that as a dig about his attire, it just further added to the picture of a simple man, minding his own business, and leading a generally passive life, which is interesting in light of what happened. I do feel more "informed" after having read that article, maybe not in the way that you are using the word though. Thank you.
26
It made him into a stereotype of a "hick" with broken down vehicles in his yard. Unnecessary and gratuitous "color" from a more "worldly" reporter, in my opinion.
27
@Suzan I don't think he would be offended by the description, in fact, it sounds like that was his own explanation for his attire, not a dig drummed up by the NYT. You are the one judging him. If asked, he may likely describe himself as a stereotypical 'hick' so why try and represent him as something else. The description adds color to the story. Take off your 'offense' hunting gear and enjoy the picture they are painting.
6
I feel so sorry for the guy who has now been 'outed'.
How the families who lost their homes must feel about what has befallen them is unknown.
Hopefully, all those who have suffered this horrendous loss are at least fully insured.
52
In my experience, ground dwelling wasps nests have at least two entrances. Locating them, putting in a little gasoline or insectocide and covering each with a flat stone in the evening when most are home will work.
The idea that making sparks and not seeing their effect is unlikely. The fire could have been stamped out best at that time.
13
I don't know if you've ever lived in the west or lived in a dry place but one spark is all you need and it gets out of control very quickly. We have this type of rain out west called virga, it's literally rain that falls from the sky but evaporates before it hits the ground, it's that dry.
62
@Patrick We need a moratorium on the use of the word "literally"
8
Did you read all he tried to "stamp out" the fire? It's not like he stood there doing nothing.
17
It seems strange to me that we don't have state laws requiring all of us to keep dead, dry grass and brush mowed down on our properties. If grass is mowed and gone, it won't ignite, and it won't have enough fuel to start a serious fire. It should be against the law to have grass that is "nearly waist high and dried up" on anyone's property in the State of California.
42
@Jane Doe He has a 160-acre ranch
31
@Dan Murphy That's not very big, really. He needs to get away from the tv set and get to it.
26
@Jane Doe
As a former California resident for many years, the comment about the Governor side-stepping environmental laws is the most telling statement in the article. Many homeowners would, if they could, clear out grasses and trees which are protected more than the homeowner's safety.
15
Nicely written story of an individual experience. Such a small inadvertent incident in such a fragile environment. Thanks for good writing.
47
@Geemongo nicely written except the parts naming a guy who unintentionally caused the fire and then making comments about his clothes...
73
@Jessica He sat down for an interview. You don't need to act like he's a victim.
8