slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
When a small-town fire chief suggested last month that the Rim Fire was sparked by marijuana growers, the theory was seized upon as a leading explanation of the blaze.
The Aug. 23 comments of Twain Harte Fire Chief Todd McNeal were circulated on YouTube and hyped on Twitter and Facebook, and his speculation fueled news reports nationwide.
It turns out they were probably wrong.
The U.S. Forest Service, which is leading the investigation of the giant fire in and around Yosemite National Park, says the pot-grower explanation is highly unlikely - because the fire's starting point in the Clavey River canyon in the Stanislaus National Forest is hard to get to, too steep for growing plants and doesn't have water for irrigation.
"We do have problems with marijuana grow sites, but in this area it's very difficult terrain," said Jerry Snyder, a Forest service spokesman who has worked in the area for 11 years.
Snyder and others involved in a multiagency effort to root out the cause of the Rim Fire, which on Wednesday had grown to 370 square miles, have yet to provide their own definitive answers to the mystery of what triggered the blaze. And that's part of the problem.
In the absence of an explanation, rumors have spread.
McNeal told residents of the foothill community of Twain Harte, one of the towns advised to evacuate because of wildfire danger, that the fire was likely human-caused because there was no lightning when it started: It's "highly suspected it might have been some sort of illicit (marijuana) grove," he said at a public meeting.
McNeal could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The U.S. Forest Service has been trying to squelch the pot-farm theory for nearly two weeks - and others, too.
The agency says there was no prescribed burning by forest managers in the area, which some have speculated could have ignited the blaze. The agency also says federal drug agents were not working in the forest, countering rumors that the federal government might have accidentally lit the fire.
cont at
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Pot-grow-ruled-out-as-cause-of-Yosemite-Fire-4787269.php
The Aug. 23 comments of Twain Harte Fire Chief Todd McNeal were circulated on YouTube and hyped on Twitter and Facebook, and his speculation fueled news reports nationwide.
It turns out they were probably wrong.
The U.S. Forest Service, which is leading the investigation of the giant fire in and around Yosemite National Park, says the pot-grower explanation is highly unlikely - because the fire's starting point in the Clavey River canyon in the Stanislaus National Forest is hard to get to, too steep for growing plants and doesn't have water for irrigation.
"We do have problems with marijuana grow sites, but in this area it's very difficult terrain," said Jerry Snyder, a Forest service spokesman who has worked in the area for 11 years.
Snyder and others involved in a multiagency effort to root out the cause of the Rim Fire, which on Wednesday had grown to 370 square miles, have yet to provide their own definitive answers to the mystery of what triggered the blaze. And that's part of the problem.
In the absence of an explanation, rumors have spread.
McNeal told residents of the foothill community of Twain Harte, one of the towns advised to evacuate because of wildfire danger, that the fire was likely human-caused because there was no lightning when it started: It's "highly suspected it might have been some sort of illicit (marijuana) grove," he said at a public meeting.
McNeal could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The U.S. Forest Service has been trying to squelch the pot-farm theory for nearly two weeks - and others, too.
The agency says there was no prescribed burning by forest managers in the area, which some have speculated could have ignited the blaze. The agency also says federal drug agents were not working in the forest, countering rumors that the federal government might have accidentally lit the fire.
cont at
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Pot-grow-ruled-out-as-cause-of-Yosemite-Fire-4787269.php
