COVID-19 forces firefighters to change tactics in preparation for wildfire season
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - Warm weather this week is not only frustrating residents who’d rather be outside in open spaces. It’s also increasing the likelihood of a more destructive fire season.
Barely through the first week of May, and the green brush around the Bay Area is slowing turning brown, and quickly drying out. Experts say, coupled with a subpar rainy season that produced only half the average rainfall, it’s a recipe for potential disaster during fire season.
“Our spring conditions are setting up for a much drier and warmer, which will lead to a decrease for fuel moisture, which then can impact our fire behaviors,” said Dr. Craig Clements, a San Jose State University meteorologist.
He says the long-rang forecast shows higher potential for large wildfires, which is unique so early in the year.
“The fact that it’s gonna get much warmer this week than we’ve had in the last few weeks is gonna impact the fuels. Particularly the grasses. The grasses are curing and the warmer it gets, the quicker they’ll cure, and that allows for ignitions to take off a lot easier,” said Clements.
It is particularly unwelcome news for the men and women charged with tapping out brush fires around the Golden State.
“For our day-to-day, it’s affecting us as it is everybody else,” said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Mke Marcucci.
He said COVID-19 is forcing command staff to rethink how a brush fire is fought. Even before moving to the front lines, firefighters are practicing social distancing, and are being evaluated for Coronavirus symptoms while at firehouses. Once deployed, the days of basecamps with thousands of firefighters staging in one area may be over.
“If that fire is in the wildland-urban interface, does that basecamp, where we used to put two or three thousand people together, maybe that doesn’t look like that anymore? Maybe we have multiple camps? Maybe we space things out a little more to be able to follow those… it’s a non-answer, but It’s catch-as-catch-can because each fire is different. And we’re preparing as much as we can to be able to interface with all of those,” said Marcucci.
Cal Fire has a management team prepared to formulate response plans in this age of a global pandemic. The team will implement split-second decisions to keep crews safe from infection at each brush fire, depending on where and when that fire is taking place.