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Posted by SY (72.94.47.117) on 12:15:09 08/19/13
In Reply to: fire out right away? posted by tomkat
The NPS has long had a policy of allowing naturally-caused fires (which this one is) to burn unchecked so long as they don't threaten human lives, structures, or other development. Fire is an important part of the ecosystem in that, for example, the lodgepole pines require the heat of the fires in order to propagate (the cones can't release their seeds without the heat melting the wax that holds the seeds in). If they put every single fire out, A) the ecosystem would suffer, and B) they'd have to expend an inordinate amount of money to do so, especially at this time of year.
The NPS isn't even actively FIGHTING this fire, they're just deploying resources to protect the thermal features, boardwalks, structures, power lines, etc. They're deploying sprinkler systems in the developed areas, for example, so the fires won't burn the important structures. But you likely won't see any air tankers dropping retardant or whatnot on this.
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