Wallow Fire

[Coues&Bass]

PHOENIX -- Federal charges have been filed against two cousins accused of causing the largest forest fire in Arizona's history.

 

The charges were announced Wednesday by the U.S. attorney's office against Caleb Joshua Malboeuf and David Wayne Malboeuf. They include leaving a fire unattended and unextinguished, and failure to maintain control of a fire that was not a prescribed fire that damaged a National Forest System.

 

The Wallow fire burned more than 538,000 acres in eastern Arizona and New Mexico last spring.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24/2-cousins-charged-in-massive-arizona-wildfire/#ixzz1VyZH6TYV

[Chef]

Very interesting.

I will be watching this closely.

Wondering what and how much they will be held accountable for.

[AZBob]

Very interesting.

I will be watching this closely.

Wondering what and how much they will be held accountable for.

 

2 cousins in their mid-20's...I don't know if it makes much difference how much they are held accountable for. In their lifetimes, they probably wouldn't make a dent in one day's costs of fighting the fire and the damage it caused. Kudos to Coues7 on this forum. He accurately called this one a couple months ago,

[Chef]

My point being, how much blame will be laid on them and how much "credit" will the feds take for lifting the fire restrictions during that windy holiday when the fire started. Will this end up as a blame game and will new management practices come because of this.

 

Like I stated, I'm curious to see where this wiill end up.

[BeardownAZ]

It will be a blame game. Thats what the g-men do best.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Not a thing they can do to replace or repay so I say fine them with enough to make it hurt and then lets get on with the healing.

 

I will go ahead and start the blame game.....FS needs to toughen up and get busy taking care of our forest and tell the save the world environmentalist to take a hike.

 

Lets face it, if any of us were to run our businesses or our own personal finances the way the Feds do, we would all be in jail for not taking care of things.

[AZP&Y]

Here's an idea?

[.270]

there's an old saying attributed to the Duke. "life is hard. it's even harder when you're stupid". i think these 2 guys are gonna see just how hard stupidity is gonna make their lives. i actually feel kinda sorry for em. they didn't go up there intending to burn half of Arizona. but through stupidity they sure did get 'r done. i do hope they get more than just token punishment. but dang, they are in for a some hard times. they better try hard to keep their photos out of the paper. Lark.

[Kelco]

I think that it is great. The person who decided to lift the fire ban should be charged also.

[Red Rabbit]

I think that it is great. The person who decided to lift the fire ban should be charged also.

 

That might also trickle down to the local governments and businesses who possibly pressure the USFS to remain open for the touri$t $.

[coues7]

I hope that no one allows these charges to distract themselves, the media and point of true blame. The United States Forest Circus is solely responsible for all things associated with Wallow Fire. As citizens of Arizona and particularly of Apache County, we need to unite to REMOVE the USFC from managing OUR forests. They will not do what needs to be done.

 

The two gentlemen who started the campfire that led to the Wallow Fire should not distract. Don't let it distract you. Keep your eye on the ball. Call the Apache County Attorney, call the Apache County Supervisors and encourage them to Allow Sheriff Deadman to use his United States Consitutional Authority to remove the USFC from Apache County! That is the action that we need. As state previously nothing, absolutely nothing, can be brought back. The only thing we can do is to change the future.

[Pine Donkey]

It's about time! The story and names of these two has been out there since the second day of the fire. Lark mentioned that life is hard when your stupid. When you add arrogance to stupidity it can be dangerous. There are many dedicated and ehtical hunters and fishermen who promote wildlife and the outdoors. Then there are the slobs who pose as hunters and fishermen, and give us all a bad name.

 

These two are slobs who do not care about anything but themselves. Remember, they first reported that the fire came through their camp while they had hiked down the canyon to fish. That portion of Bear Wallow Creek has been closed to fishing for some time. This did not matter to them...the rules are for others.

 

In many small communities, families earn reputations; some good--some bad. They can be earned for years of doing things like driving in closed areas and hunting from vehicles, entering posted private lands without permission, playing loose with bag limits and calendar dates, and fishing/hunting closed areas. Factual or not, reputations are built. To quote a line from the movie Wyatt Earp, "the reputation business is a tricky business."

 

These two will never be able to pay for the damage and expense they caused, but I hope they are forced to chip away at it for the rest of their lives. I also hope that others that contributed to the overgrown conditions of the forest are also held accountable, but I doubt that will ever happen.

[AZLance]

Forgive and forget!

[MT. CAT]

There's no forgetting this until someone else one up's them, which I hope never happens. They need to pay for there ignorance, stupidity, lack of intelligence. I would hate to be in there shoes. I hope more people are educated on camp fires and snuffing them before you go out for the day.

[plumber]

I agree 100% with coues7, good post. this is a classic example of too much goverment control.the sad part is, the "Blame Game" will played with no real winner.

Changes need to be made, haven't we been "burned" enough?

 

Kendall