IAFF Fire Fighters Battle California Wildfires

June 27, 2008 – More than 3,300 members of CDF Firefighters Local 2881 are on the frontlines of 500 wildfires ravaging central and northern California. More than 150,000 acres have been burned and 14 fire fighters have been injured – none of which are life-threatening.

“The IAFF is monitoring this very serious situation,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “Dry conditions and fuels have exhausted our fire fighters not just this year, but over the last few years. We are prepared to assist as they need us.”

“All available CDF fire fighters are on these fires or staffing fire stations in their communities,” says Bob Wolf, president of Local 2881. “They are working in very dangerous conditions. Much of the terrain is too rugged to bring in apparatus, forcing fire fighters to battle these blazes by hand. This makes it more difficult to contain fires.”

According to the National Climate Data Center, California has had its driest spring in 114 years. Dry conditions sparked a series of wildfires on May 10. The battle to contain those blazes was so intense that CAL FIRE lost four engines. Lightening storms struck the state June 20 and 21, igniting hundreds of new fires and burned a fifth engine.

The extraordinary rash of lightning-caused wildland fires has dramatically underscored the critical statewide natural disaster risk facing California. The Blue Ribbon Task Force, a watchdog panel of fire service professionals first established in 2004 and revived after the 2007 Fire Storm, has renewed its call for California’s policymakers at all levels to provide for more equipment and personnel.

“The June fires prove, if we needed any further proof, that the fire threat isn't regional and it isn't seasonal," says California Professional Firefighters President Lou Paulson, who sits on the Task Force. "It's a 12-month, statewide marathon that gets more serious every year. If we're going to do our jobs to protect the citizens of the state, California needs to get real about this threat and do what it takes to protect the tens of millions who live and work in harm’s way."

The largest fire is burning through the Los Padres National Forest and toward the town of Big Sur. Some 134 acres have burned and 575 homes and historic structures are threatened. Despite increased efforts by fire fighters to douse these flames, the tough terrain has prevented significant progress toward containment. Last available assessments estimated 10 percent.

“There are so many fires that there is literally a smoke cloud over the central valley of California,” says Wolf. “Anyone vulnerable to breathing problems is being asked to stay inside.”

Riverside Chapter Director for CDF Steve Slagle is assigned to a strike team on the Oliver fire, located in Mariposa County. “The fire is in a very steep, inaccessible area with a lot of timber fueling the spread of the blaze,” he says. “We are working 24 hours in very hot and dry conditions. It’s tough, to say the least, but we have been able to achieve 20 percent containment.”

Limited resources have left more than 100 of the smaller fires unattended. To thwart the spread of the fires, fire crews from 41 states have been called in to assist.

As fires continue to burn, parts of Butte, Shasta and Trinity counties are currently under evacuation orders, and residents in fire-threatened spots in Lassen, Modoc, Mendocino, Trinity and Shasta counties may also need to leave their homes as well.

“Regions where there are homes, there are plans in place that essentially say that if fires reach a certain spot, or decision point, evacuations will be implemented,” says Wolf. “I think many remember that we evacuated more than 500,000 people in 2007 during the San Diego fires. A lot of lessons were learned there.”

Conditions are not expected to improve soon. “We are in a drought,” says Wolf. “We are not expecting very much rain for the remainder of the summer, and long-range predictions for California call for two to three years of dry conditions.”