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A study found a strong positive correlation (\(r = 0.85\)) between the number of firefighters present at a fire scene (\(x\)) and the amount of damage caused by the fire in dollars (\(y\)).
  1. Explain whether this correlation implies that having more firefighters causes more damage.
  2. Identify a likely confounding variable that influences both the number of firefighters deployed and the amount of damage caused.

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