{"id":37898,"date":"2015-05-14T14:40:40","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T21:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=37898"},"modified":"2016-01-22T12:48:17","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T19:48:17","slug":"cal-fire-chief-warns-about-impending-wildfire-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/05\/14\/cal-fire-chief-warns-about-impending-wildfire-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal Fire chief warns about impending wildfire season"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_37912\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37912\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37912\" src=\"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pimlott.jpg\" alt=\"Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott speaking at Ryan Air Attack Base in Hemet Friday. Photo by J.P. Crumrine\" width=\"400\" height=\"596\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott speaking at Ryan Air Attack Base in Hemet Friday.<br \/>Photo by J.P. Crumrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott was at Ryan Air Attack Base in Hemet Friday as part of a statewide effort for Wildfire Awareness Week. Joining him were several major Cal Fire officials, as well as representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the state Office of Emergency Services and Riverside County, including 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth year of the current drought exacerbates the concerns for a potentially busy fire season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have already had more than 1,100 fires in the first four months [of 2015],\u201d Pimlott said. \u201cThat is twice as many as a normal year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the most extreme fire conditions in history,\u201d he warned. \u201cThis is the second year in a row that Governor Brown has provided an unprecedented number of resources to Cal Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than 70 extra engines were staffed during the winter and two additional large air tankers were ready for action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are ready with our partners. We don\u2019t do it alone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are a cooperative, integrated regional fire system,\u201d said Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins. \u201cWe work shoulder-to-shoulder with federal, state, local and tribal agencies. We are prepared to initiate vigorous attacks on all fires.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shawna Legarza, the Forest Service\u2019s director of Fire and Aviation for Region 5, re-enforced Pimlott\u2019s warnings and advised visitors and locals to heed any changes in forest restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>The Forest Service also geared up earlier this year. Its air tankers and helicopters are ready and the hiring of seasonal firefighters has already begun, she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Southern California, we\u2019ve staffed all our fire stations,\u201d said Dale Hutchison, Cal Fire\u2019s chief of its Southern Operations unit. \u201cPeak staffing will be available in mid-May.\u201d Cal Fire used the winter to begin training and preparing staff for this summer and fall.<\/p>\n<p>Fire officials also were aware of the drought\u2019s effect on the region\u2019s water supplies. Cal Fire staff already are surveying local lakes, creeks and ponds for the availability of water if needed, according to Hutchison.<\/p>\n<p>In response to a question about the status of Lake Hemet, Hawkins recognized the problem of taking water from static lakes with little recovery, but added, \u201cThere\u2019s enough water in Lake Hemet, but there would be a downstream impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although Pimlott acknowledged that fire retardants could help, he stressed, \u201cWater at the end of the day is the best firefighting extinguishment tool. We can\u2019t get away from that. But all agencies are looking to minimize the use of water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe potential [fire] dangers that exist within the 3rd District are a grave concern to me,\u201d said Washington. \u201cWhen I visit Idyllwild, I see many signs of the challenges, including the beetles and lack of water, which is drying out faster than in the valley.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every fire official advocated that citizens become familiar with the concepts of \u201cReady, Set, Go\u201d and use them to prepare and respond to fire threats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need the public to step up and abate their property,\u201d Pimlott urged. \u201cRemove all the dead material around their homes and structures. Fires can be mitigated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also participating in the event was Kim Zagaris, chief of Fire and Rescue for the California Office of Emergency Services.<\/p>\n<p>More information on how to prepare homes and family in case of wildfire may be found at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott was at Ryan Air Attack Base in Hemet Friday as part of a statewide effort for Wildfire Awareness Week. Joining him were several major Cal Fire officials, as well as representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the state Office of Emergency Services and Riverside County, including 3rd District Supervisor Chuck [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cal Fire chief warns about impending wildfire season &#8226; Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/05\/14\/cal-fire-chief-warns-about-impending-wildfire-season\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JP Crumrine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/05\/14\/cal-fire-chief-warns-about-impending-wildfire-season\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/05\/14\/cal-fire-chief-warns-about-impending-wildfire-season\/\",\"name\":\"Cal Fire chief warns about impending wildfire season &#8226; 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