700 California Wildfires: Why Don’t We Have Enough Firefighing Resources?
Almost three years ago, Americans watched in horror as this country failed to provide adequate disaster relief resources during Hurricane Katrina. Currently, the scenario is being repeated in California, where an estimated 600 to 900 lightning sparked wildfires are burning. Many of these fires began last Friday afternoon (6/20/08); many of these fires remain unmanned. As someone personally surrounded by over 80 fires in a 10 mile radius of my home, I am pissed, frightened, anxious, and depressed.
On Saturday, I called 911 twice to report seven fires, six of which only appeared on a map yesterday! I called CalFire, the United States Forest Service (two ranger districts), the Humboldt County Sheriff Department, the Trinity County Sheriff Department, and our local volunteer fire department. I wanted to know what road I could take out of our valley if I needed to escape the firestorm. The response, “Ma’am, there are fires everywhere. We don’t know where they are or what roads are open.” I felt trapped, and we began putting dozer lines around our meadow, hooking up more sprinklers, and connecting fire hoses to the pump in our pond.
Friends of ours in Mendocino were told by CDF, “We have so many fires, you are on your own.” YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! Five days later, there has still not been any agency to help with their fire; however, the BLM showed up to tell them to stop using private bulldozers to put fire lines in around the blaze on public land. They didn’t listen and protected their homes on their own.
We’ve been through fire before, but never of this magnitude. There is no doubt that local agencies are doing the best they can with limited resources. The Firefighter Blog explains:
The State of California is in the midst of the worst wildfire crisis in modern state history. More than 900 wildland fires are burning, many unstaffed. Incident commanders are making do with skeleton crews in most cases.
Of course, the priority for resources has been homes and life, and I commend the job the firefighters are doing, but why did it take our governor three days to declare a state of emergency from the fires? Does he not work on the weekends during a natural disaster? Why do we have skeleton crews? The most apparent lack of support is air support. We are lucky if one plane or helicopter shows up for an hour to fight one fire out of 80 in our smoldering community.
The Bush administration has left this country’s infrastructure to deal with natural disasters in shambles. National Guard troops and resources are in Iraq, and local agencies are underfunded. Increased wildfires have been predicted as a result of global warming; this should not have hit us out of the blue. If we can’t handle natural disasters on our own, we need to ask other countries for help. We often send assistance to other countries during times of need. It’s time to swallow our patriotic pride and admit we can’t fight the magnitude of these fires on our own. We let immigrants earn citizenship by fighting in our wars; why not let them earn citizenship for fighting wildfires?
Locals are trying to make noise to get anyone’s attention: We are in DESPERATE need of help! We have been contacting our county board of supervisors, who have been trying their best to get us resources. We have called the governor, Boxer, Feinstein, Berg, etc. We receive compassionate responses to our pleas for help, but the answer is always the same: We don’t have any resources to send your way. Here is what one impassioned citizen wrote:
We appreciate your efforts in the past week to try and obtain the needed resources to fight the fires in Trinity County. However after five days, there are still few if any resources on any of the eighteen or so fires threatening our home and business, and the homes of our eight to ten other neighbors. All told there are about ten houses, one commercial building, our winery, numerous barns and outbuildings( probably about 25 ) and historic ranches that are being threatened. After we called 911 on Friday afternoon, a spotter plane flew over Friday night, but since then no planes or helicopters have worked on any of the eighteen fires near us…So far the weather has been ok so the fires have not spread too badly, but we need resources at some point to fight these fires, or they will eventually reach our homes and businesses, our lives that we have built over the past twenty years and longer. We are trying our best to be patient, but it is difficult. While we were watching the fires burn last night from our deck, we realized there is at least one that is not on the map and does not have a name…We are doing what we can to remain safe, keep our place green, build defensible barriers, and would like to remain here as long as we can to keep our place safe, especially since so far very little help appears to be on the way. Help is getting closer, which is a good start, but I wish it could get even closer. The fire camps are quite large, I hope they can spare some bodies out our way, and any air support would really help both the fires and our spirits. More resources are needed or the situation in Northern California could turn into another Hurricane Katrina type situation when the government took too long to take care of its citizens.
Local citizens have stepped up to the plate to keep each other informed and squelch wild rumors. What few firefighters have arrived have needed locals to help them find roads and locate fires on the map. Email has been utilized to keep the community informed; however, power was turned off to our town two days ago because of fire near the poles. Maps finally showed up yesterday at the store, and tomorrow there will be a community meeting. The information aspect of the fires is improving, as our local volunteer fire chief explained, “I don’t feel like a mushroom anymore, kept in the dark and fed s**t.” Despite local information efforts, websites reporting incident news are unreliable. This occurs every fire season, when the server for InciWeb can’t handle the demand. Firefighters and families rely on InciWeb for updated information, why can’t the government upgrade the server?
We are lucky the thunderstorms occurred early in fire season, when much of the foliage is still green. These fires are moving slowly, for the most part, which has been a blessing, as agencies scramble for very limited resources. The weather has mostly cooperated with cooler temperatures and light winds, but more thunderstorms are predicted for this weekend.
Image: Redding.com
When we are sending billions of dollars to fight the war in Iraq but can’t get a few helicopters and air support when nearly the entire state is burning you know the country is being run by a bunch of idiots.
I can’t believe the some of the hateful, racist comments posted here.
Might be nice to have our National Guard and their equipment back here in the States doing what they are supposed to be doing instead of being quagmired in a useless, senseless occupation.
Some of the reactions are strange, Jennifer. It is sad that for those people the response to every situation is some rote memorized line such as “take personal responsibility”. As you said, if they had a tornado or major flood in their area, they would want help.
As far as funding: the so-called conservatives currently in Washington DC intentionally starve the federal government to allow corporate (fascist) control. Only the army is fully funded. What kind of a country would it be if they got their way! Let the fires burn, that is the motto - at least our men and women in uniform will have their weapons and health care. Oh, wait, scratch that….
If this was August, all of California would be charred.
Government has a role in our lives. Not what many want, but it can do what cannot be done otherwise. It is why we have fire departments, volunteer of otherwise.
The current lightning fires are a disaster and require governmental intervention. Shall we all take our cats and start pushing over trees and building fire lines where ever we want? There needs to be not only organization, but authority. We all agree that we need fire departments and that includes protection against wildfires. We all will breathe the smoke for a long time if the government does not get with it.
It is early in the season and many resources must be available in other states further east. They ought to have been requested long ago. And, yes, we own the national forests and they are on fire.
I am tired of listening to right wing conservatives who only care about their own money. I am also tired of listening to left wingers who don’t want any trees cut and all roads ripped out of our forests. Let’s keep the sad politics out of this. Help is needed yesterday.
Jennifer,
Did it ever occur to you that the government can’t be everywhere at once. Did you know the National Guard is also volunteer part timers, and that they have to be gathered and organized and that takes time? Do you realize that the politicians in New Orleans and Louisiana had no plans and did very little, and neither did their cops, who in fact not only hid out, but looted?
I know it’s an election year. but you left-wingers need to stop getting political in everything you write. No, George Bush didn’t start the fires, he didn’t flood New Orleans, and he can’t send help everywhere at once. You lefties have to start doing something for yourself and stop relying on the government to spoon-feed you.
I went through a fire in 2003 and know what you are going through (though we had more resources and a wonderful local radio station.)
This current situation is a horrible disaster. You have a perfect right to be concerned and frustrated. Shakespeare once wrote,
Patience unmoved! no marvel though she pause;
They can be meek that have no other cause.
A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more would we ourselves complain…
People who show so little empathy as the ones above are often those who wail the most themselves over nothing.
I hope you get help and will be reading this site to keep up.
Northern California had something like 575 fires in all of 2007, whereas 800 fires began in a 24 hour period on the weekend of June 21-22. For all practical purposes, it *is* August in California: the state has had the driest spring since record keeping began in 1850. Regarding National Guard assistance, C130s equipped with MAFFS have been deployed from Colorado, Wyoming, and North Carolina. National Guard firefighting aid is called in when local authorities have exhausted their resources. 800 fires would do it. Keep in mind that mobilizing resources for any disaster takes up to 72 hours; for that period, expect to be on your own.
Great Post! Please keep us informed as you are able. The situation is truly out of control. Information as you well know is sparse at best. The response has been extremely Katrina-like! Pathetic at best, like some of the earlier posts here. Good luck.
I really appreciate the concerns and emotional support from our readers. The two main highways out of here eastbound are closed Here’s an update on one complex of many:
LIME COMPLEX UPDATE
Location: 5 miles south of Hyampom and 14 miles west of Hayfork, California
Date and Time of Fire Start: June 20, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.
Cause: Lightning
Estimated Fire Size: 11,200 Acres Estimated Fire Containment: 10%
Estimated Expected Containment: TBD
Committed Resources: 803 total personnel including 22 Crews, 6 Helicopters, 33 Engines, 16 Dozers, 19 Water Tenders, and fire support personnel.
Current Fire Situation: Yesterday, firefighters continued to make significant progress constructing fire line on the Slide, Telephone, and Noble fires and completed a line around the Oak fire. In addition, fire crews took action to contain the Fisher fire. Power was restored to the residents north of Hyampom.
Last night, fire activity picked up in many areas of the complex. The most noteworthy areas included the Lime group of fires, Telephone fires near Wildwood, and the Noble Fire near the community of Platina, which was evacuated early this morning. Line construction continues to be successful around the Slide Fire and the Miners Group. Fire activity is expected to increase today due to changes in the weather.
Planned Actions: Today, firefighters will continue to hold and construct fire line, provide structure protection, and engage in initial attack if new fires are located. Today’s priority fires include Telephone, Noble, Lime, Deadshot, Slide, and Miners fires. Crews will scout fires in the Yolla Bolly wilderness area using horseback packers.
Remarks: This morning, California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 took command for the entire Lime Complex. The public is advised that heavy smoke may occur when traveling through fire areas.
Evacuations and Closures: The Shasta County Sheriff’s Department evacuated residents of Platina and the Russian Orthodox Monastery. The Trinity County Sheriff’s Department issued a precautionary evacuation notification to residents of Wildwood.
Highway 36 has been closed on the west at the intersection of Highway 3 to the east at the intersection of Wildwood Road (County Route 302).