California gets the kid who started the fire

Posted by Marc Hodak on October 31, 2007 under Unintended consequences | Read the First Comment

Yep, it was a boy playing with matches that led to 38,000 acres going up in flames. Because, you see, when something horrific happens, it’s great to find someone to blame.

In the case of the California fires, most of them were started by similarly random events, or what conservationist call human ignition. Human ignition is, basically, people being around nature for enough time.

So, if an adult places a Ming vase on a wobbly stand in the middle of the entranceway of a crowded Manhattan hotel, does the kid who knocks it over get the blame for breaking it? If conservationists prevent people from managing their environment the way they think best, e.g., by clearing the combustible underbrush that is tinder for these fires, is a boy playing with matches near this tinder to blame?