Northern California wildfire preparedness showcased at Cal Fire media event
As California heads into another potentially dangerous wildfire season, local, state and federal agencies gathered in Sonoma County to show the people, aircraft and equipment they say are ready to respond.
Cal Fire and partner agencies used the wildfire preparedness event in Santa Rosa on Thursday to highlight coordination across Northern California before flames break out.
When a wildfire erupts, firefighter Tucker Parton and his helicopter crew members are among those sent into action.
"We all get out with our hand tools, packs and backpumps," Parton said.
Their job is to create a fire line, clearing a narrow strip of land down to soil and removing flammable vegetation to help slow or stop the fire's spread.
"Say that I'm on the fire side, I'll pull the fire into itself," Parton said. "We'll all be in a line working together, with a guy who's one step behind me."
As hand crews work on the ground, Cal Fire says aerial attacks can quickly ramp up with water and retardant drops. This year, the agency will operate a fleet of 16 Sikorsky S-70i Firehawks.
"The pilot has full control," Parton said. "He can drop it all at once, or do trail drops."
Officials said California has had relatively subdued wildfire seasons over the last three years because of wet winters and higher humidity, but warned those conditions can change quickly.
"In this state, it's not a matter of if, but when," said Rodney Ellison, assistant commissioner of the California Highway Patrol.
Caroline Thomas Jacobs, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, said the state is seeing more frequent and more extreme weather.
"Hotter and dry conditions, wetter and more intense storms, and that means we all must be more prepared to respond and recover," Thomas Jacobs said.
The event also gave agencies a chance to showcase fire trucks, bulldozers, fixed-wing aircraft and Cal Fire's growing fleet of C-130 Hercules air tankers, which are used to drop fire retardant on wildfires.
"We have three C-130s online, the fourth will be coming, and the fifth will be here by the end of the year," said Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler.
The agency says it operates the world's largest civil aerial firefighting fleet, with more than 70 aircraft designed to reach any fire in the state within 20 minutes.
So far this year, there have been 1,085 wildfires in California and no fatalities.
