New Northern California Fires Ignite as Temperatures Flare

By Anastacia Mott Austin

As the third day of triple digit temperatures hit northern California’s fire regions, exhausted firefighters continued to try to save homes threatened by new blazes.

Residents of cities who had just returned from evacuation had to leave again, threatened by new fires this time.

The worst areas are currently a blaze burning in the big Sur area in Monterey County, which has been 41% contained, and a newer fire in Butte County which has residents who thought they escaped the worst of the fires worrying again.

The city of Chico, which is not in imminent danger at the moment, is still close enough for folks to see day after day of gray, smoky skies, and even ashes falling "like snow" in their backyards.

Firefighters have been pushed to their limits by the number and scope of the fires, and some have been facing long shifts and time away from home for over a month.

"We have firefighters who've been working nonstop since mid-May, who haven't seen their families or homes," said Terence McHale, a representative from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). "[We have firefighters] who are working 24-hour shifts, 21 days on, sometimes putting in 36 hours in the initial attack of a fire. It's an incredible challenge."

The dramatic scenario actually began this spring, when California faced one of the driest springs on record, with barely a tenth of the normal expected rainfall. That created perfect conditions for fires to rage out of control.

During the weekend of June 20th, a series of rare "dry" thunderstorms caused lightning to strike in hundreds of separate locations, sparking fires in the tinder-dry grasses of northern California.

Hundreds of fires burned out of control, as residents evacuated nearby towns and nearly half of California was covered with a smoky haze.

Just as the initial blazes were beginning to be contained, new fires broke out from sparks of existing fires, helped by soaring 100+ degree temperatures and dry conditions.

California governator Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote to President Bush, asking for federal help. The state had already been declared a disaster area to enable federal assistance to be used, and the most recent request from California asked for more National Guard troops to be deployed to the fire lines. Some Guard troops have already been on the front lines, having been sent to California immediately upon returning from Afghanistan.

Lisa Mirander, a National Guard member who has been helping to put out the fires told reporters that difference between Afghanistan and the fires wasn’t all that great. "[In Afghanistan], you worried about the bullets. Here, you got the fire." But she added she was glad to be part of the effort, saying, "It's pretty awesome. We really stand by each other."

Dan Burns (yes, that really is his name), an assistant fire chief helping to coordinate firefighting efforts, appreciates any help he can get, and is glad the National Guard is there to help. "It'll really relieve a lot of pressure out there. The state got hit by so many fires at once we couldn't staff them all."

Help is coming from another unlikely source as well. Prison inmates who have gone through a special training session are battling the fires alongside other firefighters. More than 2,500 inmates from California prisons are participating in a state program that has been in effect for 60 years. Again, local folks don’t question it; they’re just glad for the help. "I'm glad to have anybody come here and help," said a local pub owner near the Basin Complex fire.

The inmates only get paid $1 an hour for their work but get time taken off of their prison sentences. And they get another perk too. "We can be going from one fire to another driving down the highway, and people pull up just saying thank you," says inmate and firefighter Anthony Candido. "Even though I have to wear these colors (an orange prison jumpsuit), I still feel important." Candido is considering a career in firefighting when he is released from prison. In fact, three to five percent of inmate firefighters will turn to some kind of career in the field when they have completed their sentences.

The prisoners are screened before being accepted to the program. No high-risk offenders, or – natch – arsonists.

1,450 fires have been contained, though 320 are still burning out of control.

The fires mark California’s worst fire season in recent memory. The current series of fires have burned more than 700,000 acres and 100 homes, with 13,000 threatened. Evacuation orders are currently in effect in more than six counties, with two more counties warning of impending evacuations.

More than 19,000 personnel have been dispatched to help fight the fires, plus 1500 fire engines, 100 helicopters, and 300 bulldozers.