Horrible tragedy in Arizona. Are we allowed to talk about why?
by David Atkins
A heartbreaking loss of brave lives in Arizona as 19 firefighters perished battling flames:
A fast-moving wildfire in central Arizona killed 19 firefighters on Sunday, authorities said.
Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman Mike Reichling said the firefighters were fighting the blaze near the town of Yarnell, Ariz., about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
The fire, which investigators believe was started by lightning, has destroyed more than 200 homes.
The victims were from the Prescott Granite Mountain Hot Shots, an experienced group of firefighters who had battled blazes in New Mexico and Arizona in recent weeks.
"If you ever met them, you would meet the finest, most dedicated people," Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said. "These are the guys that will go out there with 40, 50 pounds of equipment. They'll sleep out there as they try to develop fire lines and put protection between homes and natural resources and still try to remain safe."
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Authorities told the Associated Press that the 19 were caught while trying to deploy their fire shelters, tents designed to trap in breathable air and shield the firefighters from flames and heat.
If this had been a terrorist attack, it would be socially acceptable to do more than just offer sympathy and prayers for the victims. It would be acceptable to ask why it happened, and what we can do to stop it happening again.
But when it's a scorching wildfire on one of the hottest days of a record-breaking heat wave in a world growing hotter every year unequivocally due to climate change, then we're not supposed to talk about that. That's called "politicizing tragedy."
When twenty children are needlessly massacred by gunfire at a school, we're not supposed to talk about why or do anything about it to impinge on the "liberty" of gun owners. When nineteen firefighters die in a hellish blaze in record heat as a consequence of climate change, we're not supposed to talk about why or do anything about it that might impinge on the "liberty" of fossil fuel producers. But if three people die in a terrorist bombing, then suddenly we can immediately start talking about why, and we can spend billions shredding the first and fourth amendments to the Constitution in order to possibly prevent it from happening again.
Personally, I think it's very important to discuss why horrors happen and do what we can to stop them. But it's time we held all preventable tragedies to the same standard.
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