CALIFORNIA-
The ongoing drought is having an impact on fire season in California. CAL FIRE says its crews have responded to an unusual number of wildfires this winter.
Fire season typically lasts from June through October. Firefighters say that timeline doesn’t apply anymore, so CAL FIRE is preparing early and bringing in more help.
Wednesday, FOX40 followed crews in Yuba County as they trained seasonal firefighters.
“Every year we train and this is how we get proficient year after year,” said Cal Fire Apparatus Engineer, Andre Shishkin.
CAL FIRE says it brings on roughly 3,000 seasonal firefighters each year.
Roughly 75 seasonal firefighters are going through training in Yuba County this week.
“It’s everything from ground fire attack operations to bulldozer operations with the dozer,” said John Hotchkess, CAL FIRE’s fire prevention specialist.
Because of ongoing dry conditions from the drought, CAL FIRE started the training early.
“The chances of having a busy fire season are very high again this year just like last year again because of the drought,” said CAL FIRE Spokesperson, Daniel Berlant.
CAL FIRE says there have already been 450 wildfires statewide since January, and that’s an unusual number for winter.
“The typical fire season months do not apply this year they didn’t apply last year and they didn’t apply the year before,” said Berlant.
While no one can predict how this fire season will play out, crews are preparing for the worst.
95 percent of fires state firefighters respond to are caused by people.
The public can protect themselves by clearing out brush and vegetation from homes and gutters. That way if there’s a fire nearby, it’s less likely to burn.
