Firefighters face challenges heading into ‘worst fire season on record’

The worst fire season on record. That’s how some Cal Fire officials describe what we are facing in California this year. Fire officials say the timing on this year’s rains, plus a four year drought puts the risk of wildfire here at an all time high.

“We still have problems with our heavier fuels being impacted by the drought,” Cal Fire Unit Chief Scott Jalbert said. “They’re a lot drier than normal. On top of that we’ve had some late rains that have created a large grass crop. Grass is what carries the fires to the heavier fuels.”

The drying vegetation has prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare this week as “Wildfire Awareness Week.” Last year while conditions were dry, there was little to no grass to fuel fires. The change this year makes a firefighter’s job even tougher.

“We have a significant potential of having a pretty busy fire season,” Jalbert said.

That’s why Cal Fire crews are six weeks ahead of schedule. Their fire stations and air bases are already fully staffed. They say they want to be as prepared as possible. But this year, that means knowing they don’t have the same resources as before.

“We are going to have one less aircraft this year due to the loss of the Tanker 81 that crashed on a fire last year in Yosemite,” Jalbert said. “So we are going to be short one air tanker locally but they’re going to have another air tanker available for us.”

Tankers are coming from Paso Robles or Redding. Also at their disposal, privately owned aircraft and the National Guard. However, it’s not just an aircraft they’ve lost. It’s water.

“The water sources we typically use, for helicopters’ dipping sources to find available water out there to use on fires is becoming more scarce,” Jalbert said. “So in theory, our helicopters are going to have to search farther distances to find this water.”

Whether it’s open ponds or even a swimming pool like the one at Martin Krilanovich’s home.

“The CDF knows about it,” Krilanovich said. “And they haven’t actually had to draw water out of it.”

Krilanovich was around the Corralitos area during the devastating Summit Fire in 2008. In fact, the fire came within three miles of his home. He’s conscious about where he lives and how his actions could save his home in the future.

“You can’t cut all the trees down where we live, or else you’d have a slide,” Krilanovich said. “And we live in the redwoods which keep everything really damp. Further up the canyon where the fire started, its more chapparal. It burned really fast till it got to the wet part of the redwoods.”

The cause of the 4,200 acre fire is unknown, but Krilanovich believes many fires are human-caused.

“All of the fires that have been around here are caused by humans,” Krilanovich said. “So the main thing is to not light fires. Be responsible. You know, people do really foolish things.”

Though he doesn’t think this year’s conditions are any worse than others, fire officials say they can’t afford to take any chances. The numbers prove it — So far in 2015, Cal Fire has responded to 1,122 fires. That’s 87 more than this time last year, with previous years showing less than 650 fires.