CA-TCU: CAL FIRE Declares start of fire season

Saturday, May 19, 2012

CA-TCU: CAL FIRE Declares start of fire season

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit (TCU) announces the opening of the 2012 fire season within the state responsibility areas of Calaveras County, Tuolumne County, Eastern Stanislaus County and Eastern San Joaquin County.

The declaration of fire season allows TCU to start the process of opening and staffing fire stations on a 24-hour basis to help protect California’s wild lands. The Columbia Air Base is also open and staffed with a helicopter. Unit Chief Brian Kirk stated “Burn time hours will remain open so citizens can continue working on their defensible space.” Burn permits are required. Weather conditions will continue to be monitored on a daily basis and when it becomes necessary burn time hours will be restricted or burning will be suspended.

Each year there is a potential for devastating fires which could have been prevented. Is your home ready for wildfire? Visit us at www.readyforwildfire.org for tips on how to make your home safe this fire season.

Chief Kirk encourages citizens to consider alternatives to burning by recycling, composting or chipping your defensible space debris. By protecting your home, you protect your neighbors’ home as well as the community we live in.

California Fire News 2012

- Follow @CalFireNews

No comments:

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

Saturday, May 19, 2012