California Firefighters Keep Wary Eye on Weather

Sunday, November 18, 2007

California Firefighters Keep Wary Eye on Weather

Many Firefighters maybe sitting in Prado staging eating camp meals or even on a freezing windy mountainside eating MRE's this Thanksgiving evening.

Southern California (Cal Fire News) - Screaming winds from the north, Single digit low humidities, - A large Santa Ana wind event is forecast for the coming week in the south and central areas of California.

CAL FIRE, USFS, BLM, Local Gov, Private fire line equipment operators and contractors, Military air crews, everyone is getting ready.

The forecast is for Santa Anas - the fierce, dry winds that fueled the flames last month - returning in the next seven days, forecasters said.

The Santa Ana winds, which last month gusted up to 100 mph, pushed flames across more than 600,000 acres, destroying more than 2,000 homes, killing ten people, injuring hundreds civilians and firefighters and forcing thousands into emergency shelters in seven Southern California counties as firefighters fought more than twenty large wind driven blazes in the October firestorm.

The forecast is also changing somewhat putting off the worst winds for a few days more and adding the possibility of cold rains, and even snows along with the winds this situation will clarify itself more in the next twenty-four hours.

In the meantime hundreds of Firefighters and hundreds of fire engines and associated equipment is heading south prepositioned to augment already beefed up crews in preparation for this wind event.

Cal Fire has canceled leave as of Monday and many Firefighters maybe sitting in Prado staging eating camp meals or even on a freezing windy mountainside eating MRE's this Thanksgiving evening at best or at worst they will be fighting a firestorm again....

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, November 18, 2007