The blame game begins

Montini

Was it bad luck, bad decision making or both that led to the deaths of 19 members of a hotshot crew in the Yarnell Hill Fire?

One indicator that we are about to begin the blame game is an article by reporter John Dougherty of Investigative Media, in which criticism is raised over the choices made by Eric Marsh, the superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew and one of the 19 who died.

The official investigation into what happened is ongoing and not expected to be released for a month or so.

It’s absolutely necessary that such a thing happen.

Those who do the dangerous work of fighting wildfires will learn from it, hopefully. But with knowledge will come less-desirable ramifications.

Blame of one kind leads to fingerpointing of another, which often leads to lawsuits.

It’s a part of a process that seems to follow every tragedy, eroding the gracious goodwill of the days immediately following the disaster and leading, sometimes, to harsh condemnations.

I hope it doesn’t happen in this case. Or perhaps the courts will apply what is called the “firefighter’s rule,” which bars most tort actions by public-safety employees injured as a result of someone’s negligence.

I hope we can manage to learn some valuable lessons about fighting fires without relearning the nasty lessons of accusation, denunciation and litigation. But I wouldn’t bet on it.