Wildfire outlook continues to worsen for Western US

OAKLAND, Calif - The Federal agency that coordinates wildfire mutual aid among the states has now sent out a warning that resources are getting thinly stretched. It officially reset readiness to the highest level of preparedness. That means that we are bracing to see how Mother Nature's different kind of wildfires will confront us.

The National Interagency Fire Center has declared a Level 5 Preparedness Level; the highest level of wildland fire activity. There are now enough fires in the western states, to potentially exhaust national wildland firefighting resources.  At this level, all fire-qualified federal employees become available for wildfire response. For now, California's internal mutual aid with local, state and Federal agencies within the state, will be sufficient. "The good thing about California is that there's a lot of fire resources within California and we have these agreements set in place so, if we need, we can rely on our local partners and our Federal partners to assist," said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jon Heggie.

But, going back to last August's lightning strike swarm that started thousands of fires in  two days, California had to get a lot of mutual aid from out of state. This was the Governors comment on August 21, 2020. "We are now engaged formally with mutual aid from ten different states. "We've been on the phone with Governors all throughout the United States, not just the western states," said Governor Gavin Newsom.

So, this year, if things get out of hand, and in-state mutual aid gets stretched to thin, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will not hesitate to act. "If we break many, multiple, significant wildfires at the same time and our resources get spread thin we have that capacity, we have the ability ot go to Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Texas," said Brian Ferguson of the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

The thing that has kept things reasonable so far, is the reasonable, moderate weather and no lightning swarms so far, But, it is still early in the fire season. "I'm still not very hopeful for the next several months where we expect a real fire fight on our hands," said Cal Fire Division Chief Tom Knetch of the  Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit--

Indeed, this years fire data is ominous as compared to last year's record season. "Last summer was historic and there's no other way to put it. And what we're seeing is an increase compared to last summer. You know, they say, ‘the worse fire season ever.’ But, they just keep getting worse," said Cal Fire’s Heggie.

Though we may need help later, the Governor's Office of Emergency services just announced it's sending additional California mutual aid crews to Oregon to help battle the relentless and every growing Bootleg Fire.