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| Yep. Happens all the time here in CA (Crazy America) on the wildland fires. I lost gear (I work for a Cal Fire contract dozer operator), when we were on a fire and stopped for fuel. Nearly a $1000 of gear. Fortunately, we had some extra gear and some donations from firefighters kept us on the line.
Firefighters in Middletown, CA try not to wear their uniforms into town alone. The residents are resentful they didn't save more of the town when fire came through 3 years ago.
I now EMTs and paramedics who have been threatened if they do not save a loved one. A firefighter in the Imperial Valley says it is a common occurrence to have "immigrant gang members" threaten them if the gang member's grandmother dies.
I know of fires where firefighters abandon buildings, particularly fully involved trailers/module units to defend property they have a chance of saving only to be threatened by the occupants of the lost unit. In one case, the agency fighting a fire pulled out until CHP and deputy units arrived to provide security.
There is a Sacramento Bee article about people suing Cal Fire for damaging their property. If they rip out a gate, remove a tree, or we bulldoze a deck to save a structure, the homeowners are trying, unsuccessfully so far, to sue the agency.
There are letters in the paper that if the state simply put more resources on these fires they could stop them. These people have no clue as to what they are speaking of. The Camp Fire had days of rain and low temperatures, I believe 3-5 inches over 3-5 days toward the end, and it still was not contained. It is tough to imagine the enormity of these events. Single digit humidity, ground debris drier than your average hay, high temps and material preheated ahead of the fire, fires generating their own wind; I have seen 2 foot high grass cast a horizontal flame in excess of 18 feet as it was backlit. Once lit, it can maintain a 50-75 foot flame cast. I saw 2 foot high juniper bushes on the edge of a parking lot cast nearly 150 foot flames and removes the tar on the cracksin the lot. Unless the weather changes, there is little we can really do on the big ones.
And for dealing with that, some knucklehead takes our gear, which is of absolutely no use to them.
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How low can society sink...
