Cal Fire Fighting More Fires With New Tools

Speaker 1: 00:00 We turn now from the three alarm Navy ship blaze to fires of a different sort near record heat over the weekend reminds us that wildfire season is here. Here's how Cal fire chief Tom Porter explained it. Speaker 2: 00:13 We are in peak fire season. That means the fires. Aren't going to just go out. As the sun goes down, they're going to start burning through the night. They're going to start burning into the Chaparral or brushed covered landscape. They're going to start burning into the forest. Speaker 1: 00:31 And as with all other aspects of life, the COVID-19 crisis has profound effects on how fires will be fought in California this summer and fall. Joining me to discuss this is San Diego based Cal fire captain Isaac Sanchez. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having us well, Kevin Sanchez start with the outlook. How bad has it been already and what does it look like? We're facing going forward in San Diego and across California, this fire season. Speaker 3: 00:58 What we're looking at from last year, um, compared to this year is, is we're just about a thousand acres. Um, I'm sorry, a thousand fires, um, more statewide, uh, to date today. Then we fought last year. Um, but the flip side of that coin is, is we've only, uh, those, those thousand additional fires. I've only burned about 600 additional acres. So kind of a mixed bag. We're seeing more fires, but we're not seeing the corresponding increase in acres. Speaker 1: 01:25 And the state has a new fire suppression goal this year, as outlined by governor Gavin Newsome in his press conference on Friday. Here's what Newsome said. There was a, that there was actually some good news. Speaker 2: 01:36 The size of the fires have been contained substantively. So in fact, uh, average, now these wildfires about 6.6 acres, we have a goal to get to 95% suppression under 10 acres. Speaker 1: 01:52 So captain Sanchez, is that a reasonable goal? Have your crews in San Diego been able to meet that quick suppression goal so far? Speaker 3: 01:59 Absolutely. And that's a, that 95%, uh, of our fires, initial attack fires being kept under 10 acres is not a new goal. That is a goal that we've had for, uh, for quite a few years, for several years, if not decades, uh, here in San Diego, we've responded to numerous fires, we're doing it every single day. And the biggest fire that we've had this year was the skyline fire, which burned about, uh, if I recall correctly about a hundred acres, um, but that's been the biggest fire we've had in San Diego now, um, that speaks to several things that speaks to preparation by public that speaks to preparation by the fire departments, the cooperation from the fire departments, the conditions have changed. It's gotten hotter, it's gotten drier like it does every single year. And, and we're at a point that the fire sizes are going to be bigger sooner. Um, it will be more challenging to keep 95% of the fires under 10 acres, but it certainly is a reasonable goal. Speaker 1: 02:53 And let's talk about the effects of COVID-19 on fighting wildfires. First, it's really cutting into valuable resource, the fire crews that are made up of prison inmates, right? Speaker 3: 03:03 Yeah, absolutely. That's a, that certainly is a, um, a portion of our firefighting, uh, um, uh, tools and equipment that we have available to us, um, that has, has been, uh, uh, significantly impacted, uh, when you combine combine that with the, uh, the releases that have been happening over the last several years for low level offenders. Um, there, there certainly is a shortage of, of, uh, of hand proves, uh, but there is a plan in place to help address that, you know, we have, um, hired additional firefighters, um, statewide, I believe it was on the level of, uh, uh, 800 and, uh, 58 additional firefighters statewide to be brought in, um, for the purpose of, of forming up hand crews, um, here in San Diego specifically, uh, we'll be getting additional and additional 50 firefighters that will be split up into two, um, two hand crews. Um, and then, uh, the remaining balance will be sent to fire engines to increase the staffing on fire engines, but it's a, it's a small step towards, uh, replacing, uh, an invaluable resource in an incredibly in demand resource. Once the large fires start to burn later this year Speaker 1: 04:06 And with the crews out there on the fire lines, how are you keeping them separated and best trying to keep the virus from spreading among firefighters? And what about testing? What happens when firefighters test positive? It's a whole new world, right? Speaker 3: 04:19 Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, there are plans in place, uh, um, for big picture things like, uh, um, you know, when, when strike teams are exposed or if, uh, if somebody comes up positive, um, there are plans in place to, to isolate them and quarantine them until we can get everybody tested and, and, uh, figure out what the, what the actual threat to everybody else's. But when it comes to the large scale fires, um, whether it's increasing the, the size of, and footprint of the campsite itself on, in a given area or creating several camps, uh, for a given fire, um, all the way to, uh, enforcing social distancing and mass requirements when folks are in camp. And when they're sitting down to eat their, their meals Speaker 1: 04:59 Turn to a different firefighting tool, the governor is highlighted, uh, the new black Hawk helicopters. How many, uh, is California getting, what specifically, why are they so valuable in your battles against wildfires Speaker 3: 05:12 Their, their importance can't be understated. I mean, that this resource is, is a game changer when it comes to capability. Um, we, we've got, we've been operating with our Hueys and super Hueys, which are old surplus, uh, military Vietnam era, uh, helicopters. Uh, we, we started purchasing those back in the early eighties and have subsequently grown our air fleet to the largest, uh, um, agency owned a firefighting aircraft fleet in the world, but that fleet absolutely is aging and, and, and the steps being taken by the governor, uh, to improve that fleet are, are invaluable. Um, the goal is ultimately to purchase 12, uh, Firehawk helicopters and place them strategically across the state. Um, the closest one to San Diego County being, uh, at Ryan air tech base in Riverside. Uh, but in addition to the Firehawks, there, there are steps being taken to, uh, convert [inaudible] to the Cal fire fleet. Um, there, there won't be quite as many, but there they will be here. Uh, there will, uh, there are plans to have one in Ramona, a C one 30 in Ramona. Speaker 1: 06:10 The state budget has taken an enormous hit with the economy restricted to do the coronavirus. How's the state going to pay for firefighting? If this turns out to be a really bad years, the federal money coming, hopefully, Speaker 3: 06:22 Well, there's a combination of things with Cal fire and the state of California have an ongoing emergency budget that is specifically set aside for paying for large scale incidents or paying for emergency. We simply are going to continue attacking our fires the way we always have, not only across the state, but specifically here in San Diego, Speaker 1: 06:40 Deadly and highly destructive wildfires hit San Diego County in 2003, again, in 2007, how much better prepared are we a dozen or so years later, and keeping fires from becoming those big conflagrations as we saw in those years, Speaker 3: 06:55 It's a completely different environment. You know, I've been with this agency and specifically in this County for well over 20 years, uh, in my career. And, and it's a completely different world. There's a level of cooperation, uh, that, that, uh, simply didn't exist before. There's a, there's a, uh, a level of response and, and, and willingness to share resources that wasn't there before. Um, and, and when you can immediately, um, you know, request upwards of 10, you know, aerial firefighting, uh, resources that exist in this County alone, um, for an initial attack fire or something that we think has the potential to go extended. Um, that's, that's, uh, invaluable to us. That is something that we didn't have before in 2003, in 2007. And even as recently as 2014, although the steps were being taken, um, the, the, the level of preparation in this County is, is bar none compared to the rest of the state. And I firmly believe that the state leads, uh, the country and the rest of the world in, uh, in, uh, preparations and ability to engage in attack aggressively attack firefighting, or I'm sorry, a wild land fires. Uh, so for, for the San Diego to be on the leading edge of that, uh, of that effort is, is a, um, incredibly fortunate for us. Speaker 1: 08:07 And finally, what's your advice for individual homeowners? What should we be doing right now? Speaker 3: 08:12 Yeah. Be ready, be prepared. It's not something that, um, that we just kind of wake up and decide, all right, we're going to, you know, start concentrating on training, you know, our, our, our young folks in ourselves on how to continue to be, you know, um, to be aggressive firefighters, it's something that's ongoing being prepared is, is not something that can happen overnight. Um, be ready to evacuate, uh, be ready to, uh, to receive those evacuation notices, uh, by signing up for, uh, evacuation alerts at ready, uh, San diego.org, have a plan and make sure that everybody in your family knows that plan. And, and that's just for evacuations, but you also gotta do your defensible space clearance. You also have to, you know, let your, your, the people that live outside your home, um, know what your plans are so that you can, um, you know, put that into, into effect, put those plans into effect, uh, should, should the, uh, the need arise, but it takes time. It takes work and above all else. It takes maintenance. It's never completed. Speaker 1: 09:10 I've been speaking with Cal fire, captain Isaac Sanchez. He's based in San Diego. Thanks very much for joining us. Speaker 3: 09:16 Thank you.