So, at this point, with an array of incentives in place to entice local government bureaucrats to welcome FEMA with open arms, all that’s left to do is to create some kind of big emergency (or series of emergencies) to begin the quiet takeover operation of this country—right before our eyes.

Now, just what might such an emergency (or series of emergencies) be? Let’s turn our attention now to a matter of great concern to many people at the present time—namely, the large array of wildfires which seem to be at a mysteriously high level this year.

Let’s see what the FEMA website has to offer:

DISASTER DECLARATIONS
IN THE YEAR 2000

Taking a close look at the FEMA Disaster Activity for the year 2000, there have been “Major Disaster Declarations” in the following states: Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska, Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Maine, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Vermont, and most recently, Montana.

EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS IN THE YEAR 2000

New Mexico declared an emergency based on fire this year.

FIRE SUPPRESSION AUTHORIZATIONS IN THE YEAR 2000

The following states have had “Fire Suppression Authorizations” issued this year: Texas, Missouri, Hawaii, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

WILDFIRES

The wildfire statistics charts, on pages 37 and 38, were obtained at the www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfnmap.html Internet website. They show the cumulative damage picture, both over years and over geographic areas.

Curiously, when reviewing the wildfire statistics at the www.nifc.gov/stats/wildlandforestats.html Internet website, one can’t help but notice that the total fire acreage for 1999 is listed as 5,661,976 (as opposed to the 3,945,636 listed above in the line for 1999). Only supposition will suffice as to an explanation for such a wide discrepancy.

Nonetheless, it is pretty obvious that Idaho has been the hardest hit by fire this year, with 1,043,934 acres burned. There will be more to report about Idaho and Montana later in this article—where the story gets really bizarre and suspicious.

FEMA’s involvement with wildfires includes, in their own words:

U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATION

“The U.S. Fire Administration is an entity of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The mission of the USFA is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination, and support.”

Their slogan is: “Working for a fire-safe America.”

MULTI-AGENCY CO-OPERATION

The National Interagency Fire Center is a clearinghouse for wildfire news and agency coordination. They produce something referred to as National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) Reports. The agencies involved constitute a literal alphabet soup:

BLM (Bureau of Land Management), BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs), FWS (National Park Service), USFS (United States Forest Service), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, OAS (Office of Aircraft Services), and NASF (National Association of State Forestry).

On page 35 is a graphic from the www.nifc.gov/ Internet website showing the eight agency logos (arm patches) and suggesting the high degree of “cooperation” which has been quietly put into place should such become necessary in a designated “emergency” situation.

GEMS

And then, of course, there’s GEMS, the Global Emergency Management System. Never heard of them? You’re not alone. GEMS also coordinates with all fire-fighting agencies. It is an international entity. GEMS is documented on the FEMA website—and that comes as no surprise at this point.

WILDFIRE CHART

The best source I’ve found for current statistics on wildfires throughout the country is the www.nifc.gov/information.html Internet website. Below is a recent map from that resource to help show the extent of the destruction raging mostly in the Western United States. To set the tone for what we are about to investigate, we’ll also look at some recent headlines and news briefs.

DANGER ZONES

On the Backgrounder: Wildland Fires section of FEMA’s Internet website, there is a section called “Danger Zones”. Here’s what is says:

“Danger zones include all wooded, brush, and grassy areas—especially those in Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, California, Massachusetts, and the national forests of the western United States.”

CURRENT FIRE HEADLINES

Let’s take a look at some recent fire-related headlines:

* Federal Funds Authorized To Help Fight Wyoming Wildfire

* Federal Funds Authorized To Help Fight South Dakota Wildfires

* Town Meeting With FEMA In Los Alamos

* Federal Funds Authorized To Help Fight Nevada Wildfire

* State Of Montana Declared Disaster Area As Fires Rage (With 86
blazes in West, another record set)

* James Lee Witt [FEMA Director] Tours Scorched Montana Landscape

* 33,000-Acre Wildfire Heading Toward Town Of Salmon, Idaho

* Firefighters Doing Hand-To-Hand Combat With Wildfires In The West

* Montana Firefighters Struggling To Battle Raging Fires

* Wildfires Continue To Scorch Western U.S.
? U.S. Faces Worst Fire Season In 50 Years

KEY STATEMENTS IN RECENT WILDFIRE STORIES

There have been many stories on the news lately concerning the wildfires in the western United States. Here are a few “key” statements contained within some of those wildfire stories which actually aired or were printed.

• From CNN World Today, aired August 14, 2000:
“Right now, 82 fires are burning across 13 states, with about two-thirds of those in Montana and Idaho. One of the most dangerous fires is in central Idaho. The 33,000-acre blaze, now burning into its second month, is only 40% contained and heading directly towards the town of Salmon....
“Count Gary and Jackie England among those voices. They own a small saw mill in this region, but it’s closed while they help construct the Salmon fire line. They say federal forest-use policies have shut down most of the logging around here, allowing the forest to thicken and become a tinderbox....
“When you get this kind of a fuel and you get this growth, it’s mature to burn. And if we don’t manage the forest, it’s going to manage us.”

• From CNN World Today, August 15, 2000:
“Houses belonging to 600 people evacuated are still threatened. To the north, 200 evacuees got the green light to return home.”

• From CNN World Today, August 16, 2000:
“Hamilton, Montana — As 25 large, smoky wildfires burned in Montana, the governor Wednesday declared the entire state a disaster area and authorities issued a new evacuation order in southwest Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.
“Neighboring Idaho had nearly as many wildfires—23—and throughout the West the number hit 86, a new single-day record....

“More than 1 million acres (1,562 square miles) of forest, brush, and grass have been blackened by the 86 large wildland fires burning in 12 western states, according to the federal government’s National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho....

“The 67,088 wildfires in the United States this year have consumed 4,970,445 acres (7,766 square miles), an area larger than the state of New Jersey....

“Montana Gov. Marc Racicot issued an Executive Order effective at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday declaring a disaster for the entire state, where over 400,000 acres (625 square miles) have burned so far this year.

“The order allows use of the National Guard anywhere in the state. Previous orders by Racicot allowed use of guard units only in specified areas.

“The latest Bitterroot Valley evacuations were in a large area some 50 miles south of Hamiliton, almost in Idaho, and covered about 100 homes, said Jim Chinn of the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department.

“While residents of some 900 houses have been allowed to return home, hundreds of others remained out of their homes for a second week as fires burned on....

“In Idaho, helicopters continued pounding the southern bank of the main Salmon River with water Tuesday as officials decided the danger was too great to keep open the popular rafting river and the 2.4 million-acre (3,750 square mile) Frank Church/River Of No Return Wilderness.

“Water drops and sparse fuel for the fire on the river’s southern bank have kept one major wildfire from jumping north into the wilderness. But Forest Service supervisors said other fires were burning unchecked over 182,000 acres (284 square miles) in the protected area.

“In the past six weeks, fires have blackened over 55,000 acres (859 square miles) of Idaho forest and range....

“Elsewhere, 55 people had been evacuated from the southern Black Hills, south of Hot Springs, South Dakota, where a 7,000-acre (11 square-mile) blaze was 60 percent contained....

“In Alaska, the National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a “red flag warning”, its most severe fire warning, for the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island.”

• From CNN World Today, August 18, 2000:

“An update now on the wildfires burning in the West: the million-acre disaster dominates Idaho and Montana. In Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, the spreading blazes have left behind 242,000 blackened acres.”

• From CNN World Today, August 21, 2000:

“The wildfires are concentrated now mostly in Montana and Idaho, where more than 50 large fires burn....

“Thirty major fires have consumed more than 600,000 acres of wilderness in Montana alone....

“Many of the biggest fires in the West are in the Bitterroot Valley....

“Fire officials say there are too many fires and too few fire crews, forcing firefighters to choose between which fires they try to stop and which ones they have no choice but to let burn....

“Dry lightning is a common cause of wildfires, but did you know that the reverse is also true? David George tonight shows us how the fires themselves spark electrical storms.

“[David George:] In an exceptionally dry year like this one, Nature conspires to create a vicious cycle. Fires sparked by lightning generate their own weather, spawning more lightning, starting more fires.

“Here’s what happens: A big fire sends heat and smoke as high as six miles into the sky. The heat encounters cooler air, producing a cloud. The cloud generates only a little localized rain, but lots of what is commonly called ‘dry lightning’.

“[Bay Johnson, U.S. Forest Service:] In other words, it may be raining here, and the bolt would shoot out five miles from where the rain is to the ground where there is no rain. And we see a lot of that this year in the West.

“[George:] A bolt of lightning is about as wide as a human finger. Negatively charged lightning, the most common kind in thunderstorms, lasts about 41 microseconds—41 millionths of a second. But almost every positively-charged bolt, the kind most often associated with dry lightning, last longer, up to a full half a second, zapping the ground with a 30,000-degree burst of what scientists call ‘continuing current’.”

• From CNN World Today, August 22, 2000:

“So far this year, flames have consumed more than 5½ million acres. That is an area larger than Massachusetts....

“Some experts say this summer’s firestorms are a result of conflicting policies....

“[Charles Zewe, CNN Correspondent:] Wildfires, the people who fight them say, are bigger, hotter, and more devastating than ever....

“[Dave Campbell, District Ranger, U.S. Forest Service:] We’re seeing fire intensities that we haven’t seen before....

“[Zewe:] For nearly a century, government policy has been to put out all fires. Critics contend that’s allowed flammable brush, dead trees, and other fuels to pile up waist-deep in some forests. The Clinton administration is now drafting a new, $12 billion fire policy to thin high-risk national forests by mechanical means, or by using fire itself.

“Dave Campbell is the district ranger in the remote Selway/Bitterroot Wilderness straddling the Montana-Idaho border. For 28 years, wildfires here have been allowed to burn themselves out, provided they don’t threaten people or property.

“[Campbell:] There have been a number of fires that now have mitigated the effects of the fires this year because the current year’s fires are running into these old burns.”

• From CNN World Today, August 25, 2000:

“Firefighters brace for worst wildfires yet in Montana. Other states braced Friday for one of their toughest days yet, smelling fresh smoke in the air as dawn broke above Montana’s fire-ravaged Bitterroot Valley.

“Gusty winds, scorching temperatures, and lightning—which may have caused a new fire overnight in Montana—underscored the probability that blazes ravaging nearly 600,000 acres could grow worse.

“In parts of Montana, where some of the 25 major fires are burning, temperatures into the 90s and 40 mph winds were expected.

“And in Washington, a lightning-sparked brush fire grew to 35,000 acres Thursday and threatened 50 rural homes outside the town of Mabton. About 150 Yakima County residents were evacuated, as 200 firefighters battled the flames and looked forward to reinforcements to arrive Friday....

“Across the Northwest, morning temperatures have dropped, and there are other signs that Fall is drawing near. But the National Interagency Fire Center said the end of Summer does not signal an end to the fires.

“‘We just don’t see a real end in sight’ said E. Lynn Burkett, spokeswoman for the NIFC in Idaho.

“‘This time of year, what usually happens is we get monsoon weather in the Southern states, and it moves north, bringing rain’ she said. But that isn’t happening. Given Montana’s extraordinary dryness and the high risk that more fires will ignite, Gov. Marc Racicot this week doubled the amount of public land closed to recreation and other uses. An area roughly the size of Maine now has been declared off-limits, effective Friday.

“Fires this year have burned 5.7 million acres across the country, and the NIFC said 78 major fires are burning on 1.4 million acres. The fire season already is the worst in at least a half-century.”