Yosemite blaze may have been sparked by illegal marijuana growers

[Hum]

The massive forest fire that has scorched 333 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park may have been sparked by illegal marijuana growers, according to one fire official in Tuolumne County.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Todd McNeal, chief of the Twain Harte Fire Department, told a community meeting that it was "highly suspect that there might have been some sort of illicit grove, a marijuana-grow-type thing."

McNeal, who has 23 years of experience with Forest Service, the National Park Service and other agencies, said at the Aug. 23 meeting that investigators know the fire is human caused since there was know lightening in the area.

The fire started Aug. 17 and its exact cause remains under investigation. It is expected to keep burning long after it is fully contained, and recovery will be extensive. Some 7,000 damaged trees next to power lines will need to be removed by utility crews and 800 guardrail posts will need to be replaced on Route 120, a fire fact sheet said.

Nearly a third of the blaze was contained Friday and some small communities in the mountainous area were no longer under evacuation advisories, but smoke descending down into San Joaquin Valley cities was becoming a problem.

The 2-week-old blaze burning in the Sierra Nevada northeast of Fresno has grown to become the largest U.S. wildfire to date this year and the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California records.

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[Growled Member]

he massive forest fire that has scorched 333 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park may have been sparked by illegal marijuana growers, according to one fire official in Tuolumne County.

 

Or may not have been. I need proof either way, and not just accusations.

[Hum]

Wonder if many of the firefighters got high .....

[KingCracker]

I wouldn't doubt it, with so many illegals coming up from mexico and growing weed in the hills, anything is possible. 

[zhangm Supervisor]

McNeal, who has 23 years of experience with Forest Service, the National Park Service and other agencies, said at the Aug. 23 meeting that investigators know the fire is human caused since there was know lightening in the area.

I suppose I'm a bit reluctant to believe in a source that actually confuses "know" with "no". Forest fires themselves are actually natural - it's not as if humans came along and invented the thing.

[KiHu]

I suppose I'm a bit reluctant to believe in a source that actually confuses "know" with "no". Forest fires themselves are actually natural - it's not as if humans came along and invented the thing.

It's Fox, what do you expect.

[FloatingFatMan]

I suppose I'm a bit reluctant to believe in a source that actually confuses "know" with "no". Forest fires themselves are actually natural - it's not as if humans came along and invented the thing.

 

 

Likewise, though more for the use of redundant words like "illegal".  Yeah, because you totally get legal marijuana growers in Yosemite national park... :rolleyes:

[zhangm Supervisor]

Likewise, though more for the use of redundant words like "illegal".  Yeah, because you totally get legal marijuana growers in Yosemite national park... :rolleyes:

The punchline is that they're now saying it was started by a hunter with an illegal fire.

[Growled Member]

The punchline is that they're now saying it was started by a hunter with an illegal fire.

 

Wow. 

[chrisj1968]

I live in the area and Reno area news is saying not pot farmers but http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/09/05/rim-fire-caused-by-illegal-fire-set-by-hunter/