[pct-l] why close the burn areas?

[Ken Murray]

"The first google stat I came up with for car accidents was: 6,500,000 car accidents, 2,900,000 injuries, and 42,636 people killed in 2005, just a single year."

How many people can you cite that have been killed in motor accidents on their way to or from PCT thru-hikes.  I can name off the top of my head two people who have died on the trail, not from natural causes.  So we absolutely know that hiking the PCT is factually much more dangerous than riding in a car to the trail, right?

Looking at the total number of people killed in auto accidents in the US, and comparing that to the number of tree fall accidents in a few sparsely populated states is absurd, that is not the group we are talking about.  We are talking about hikers, right?

Let's compare apples with apples, if you want to make comparisons.

Problem is, there are no stats on accidents of hikers going through recent fire areas, because that just is not allowed.  I don't think they even allow agency people in, unless they are specially trained.  I doubt that you can find meaningful comparitive statistics.

I'm neither a representative, nor am I inclined to argue about this with you or anyone else.  The original poster expressed wonderment as to "why is this done".  I gave my perspective, based upon my observations, training, and experience.  I'm fairly sure that it represents the reason.