#1
Posted: 6/29/07 at 11:45am
I love Lake Tahoe. I've vacationed there several times, most recently in April. I was sick to see this week's forest fire destroy so much beauty, but more sickened to see this story about "Disaster Tourists" rushing in to photograph burned homes or to videotape fire fighters at work.
"Onlookers drawn by the spectacle of the fire and firefighters' dramatic efforts have at times fought with Tahoe residents and blocked traffic in attempts to wander close to fire zones. "They're the disaster tourists," said Rex Norman, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "They're people who seem to have driven long distances to look at burned houses, which is extraordinarily difficult for the affected residents."
Sheriff's officials who have been working neighborhood checkpoints say they have run into out-of-towners trying to sneak into burned areas. A volunteer at one checkpoint told The Chronicle that carloads of gawkers have pretended to be news reporters in hopes of getting in to see the destruction. They were turned away."
Anyone got any ideas why folks want to see other people's misery first hand?
SFGate
"Onlookers drawn by the spectacle of the fire and firefighters' dramatic efforts have at times fought with Tahoe residents and blocked traffic in attempts to wander close to fire zones. "They're the disaster tourists," said Rex Norman, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "They're people who seem to have driven long distances to look at burned houses, which is extraordinarily difficult for the affected residents."
Sheriff's officials who have been working neighborhood checkpoints say they have run into out-of-towners trying to sneak into burned areas. A volunteer at one checkpoint told The Chronicle that carloads of gawkers have pretended to be news reporters in hopes of getting in to see the destruction. They were turned away."
Anyone got any ideas why folks want to see other people's misery first hand?
SFGate
