[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1939-E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST/VENTURA WILDERNESS FIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 1999

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, Mother Nature beckons our notice 
as she shakes the earth in Taiwan, destroying cities and killing 
thousands. She bombards the east coast with wind and water, leaving 
hundreds without a livelihood, home, or lifetime collection of 
possessions. There is hardly a community in the Nation that hasn't on 
some level taken notice of the eerie weather patterns striking the 
planet. And in my own home district, a brilliant and awe inspiring 
lightning storm witnessed throughout the area on September 8, leaves 
its mark in the form of numerous wildfires setting the northern portion 
of the scenic Los Padres National Forest ablaze.
  The Northern Los Padres National Forest, which encompasses the 
Ventura Wilderness, is comprised of about 326,000 acres of rolling, 
forest covered mountains and open valleys, and is refuge to myriad 
wildlife and forage. Seventy-five percent of the park is protected as 
wilderness, and it is home to several of the nearly extinct species of 
the California Condor and houses a variety of native Indian sacred 
pictographs. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean along the Big Sur Coast and 
contained in the east side by the San Antonio Mountain range, the area, 
visited by 5.4 million per year, is both a national preserve and a 
local institution.
  The rough terrain and a particularly dry season, coupled with 
excessive growth due to last years El Nino, has commanded the 
occupation of a small army of firefighters. What began with four 
separate blazes consuming 3,000 acres and requiring 900 firefighters, 
with hopes of full containment within the week, has now burned over 
30,000 acres and has in excess of 3,500 fire fighters on the ground. 
There are now two main fires racing across the landscape, jumping fire 
lines and stream beds, and forcing crews to retreat into a primarily 
defensive position. Although the fires are considered 20 percent 
contained, expected total containment is unknown.
  The fire now threatens residences, businesses, and retreats, and has 
forced the evacuation of several hundreds of people. The fire men and 
women hold the areas, strategically fireproofing positions, hoping to 
win any direct confrontations with the blaze. Included in their arsenal 
are 26 helicopters, 17 air tankers, and 121 fire engines. Ground 
fighters who were originally restricted to drawing fire lines only with 
shovels, chain saws and other hand tools, due to Federal wilderness 
regulation, now utilize 34 bulldozers, with which they can protrude up 
to 20 miles into the national wilderness. The project, which averages a 
cost of half a million per day, has now totaled $20.5 million.
  Firefighters work 24 hour shifts, flanking the fire in crews of 2 and 
4, each containing 8 to 24 members. The National Forest Service, Air 
Force ``hot shots,'' the State Department of Forestry and other 
professional and volunteer firefighters attempt to contain the inferno. 
Smoke jumpers repel off helicopters into remote areas, cut heli-spots 
which allow the helicopters to bring troops in and out, and begin 
cutting fire lines. Thus far 17 fire fighters have sustained injury, 
though none serious.
  Fort Hunter Liggett personnel work to provide a base camp for 
approximately 1,500 people and 10 helicopters, while another camp just 
west of the small town of Greenfield provides a mini ``tent city,'' 
housing over 2,000 personnel and equipment. A Zen Buddhist retreat, the 
Tassajara Zen Center, plays host to 80 fire fighters, housing and 
feeding them their common vegetarian fare, even granting them the use 
of their famous sulfur hot springs.
  It's a common story. Mother Nature, whose nourishment provides for us 
daily in a quiet and steady manner, seems to have a change of heart. 
Suddenly we are forced to take notice, and the heroes emerge. Men and 
women risk life and limb, the potential cost a paycheck will never 
cover, working to ensure our safety and protection. The whole incident 
is only a far away story of interest to us, and yet any one of us could 
find ourselves that homeowner; watching the ash cover our life's work, 
the smoke looming in the sky and the intense yellow glow over the 
horizon. As we pack only what we can carry and say goodbye, we hope our 
home will still be there when we return. Or perhaps we could find 
ourselves under 1,200 pounds of rubble, praying we are discovered, or 
boating through a canal that the day before was our home street, hoping 
for a hero to rescue us, because we will not survive alone. Regardless 
of the incident, we find ourselves dependent on the courage and 
strength of others.
  And so we must ask ourselves, where is the lesson in all of this? How 
can we ever truly thank the heroes of our district, our Nation and our 
world? We must support their efforts. We must honor their efforts, and 
we must remember their efforts. We must find the courage and the 
strength within ourselves to follow their lead. Because Mother Nature 
is talking to us. She is demanding we take notice. The fire now racing 
across our world in the form of war and oppression, hunger and disease 
and injustice and suffering demands immediate attention and decisive 
action. It demands selfless preservation and protection, perfectly 
analogous to that of these men and women tackling the towering blazes 
of the Los Padres. It requires heroes.
  And so, I would ask that in strength and comradery, in thought and in 
action, we honor

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those who have honored us. Today I thank the firefighters for their 
efforts in the Los Padres. We salute you.

                          ____________________