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An even better analogy is Jenga. California's uncontrolled fuel load was going to result in massive fires at some point. Yes, PG&E could have reduced the chance
by Zanni 6y ago
An even better analogy is Jenga. California's uncontrolled fuel load was going to result in massive fires at some point. Yes, PG&E could have reduced the chance of it being them, which would be great for PG&E, but would make no difference to California.
- harha 6y agoYes this makes sense - back to driving, it's like a road that clearly wasn't safe to operate, but the drunk driving didn't help either.
- Retric 6y agoThe fuel load decays over time, so a long enough wait period and the next fire is independent of the last fire. Thus, fewer PG&E fires just means less fires rather than there being some independent amount of fire that’s always going to happen. If anything they need to have more responsibility in such areas not less responsibility. If they can’t detect a tree is at risk or not then either cut down more trees or use underground power lines in that area.
- 10000truths 6y agoWell clearly, the fuel load accumulates faster than it decays, or else the fires would not have reached this scale in the first place.
- Retric 6y agoIn the short term yes, but like many things it’s an S curve.
- pixl97 6y agoThis is mostly incorrect, and a really bad take at understanding fires in semi-arid climates. The fires we are having are a human caused problem, and by human I don't necessarily mean PG&E. Trying to put this blame on one company is going to accomplish pretty much nothing and just lead to more deaths in the future as we piss around looking for the wrong people to blame and avoid solutions. Also, underground cables still cause fires. I know this from experience.
- Retric 6y agoAmusingly, mostly incorrect in this case translates to true. The point is it’s not a linear increase with time. Yes, controlled burns can make a serious difference, their also a significant risk on their own as unlike wetter climates you get a lot of fuel at the same time. Blaming PG&E is relevant because they are one of the few companies operating in these areas. When fires start in suburbs they rarely grow out of control, it’s when their far from human habitation that you see major issues. Another option would be adding sensors to PG&E equipment to allow for rapid responses and thus vastly limited growth. Underground cables still causing fires doesn’t mean much when their significantly less likely to cause wildfires.