California Begins Preparations For Wildfire Season Amid The Ongoing Coronavoirus Outbreak
ANTIOCH (CBS SF) -- Wildfire Preparedness Week started Monday, but this year getting ready for the annual challenge of battling large blazes takes on a whole new meaning as crews across the state face a combination higher fire danger and the COVID-19 outbreak.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the concern is how to safely stage mass evacuations in a time of social distancing. Shelter space will be limited so fire departments are asking people to take action now to keep fires from getting out of hand.
"We are already 400 fires ahead of our average for this time of year so we are seeing fires happening," said CalFire Chief Thom Porter.
With drought conditions in Northern California, there is concern about how early and how dangerous wildfire season can be this year.
"We know in the last 3 years... we had 5 of the deadliest wildfires in California history, over that time 145 people lost their lives," Porter said.
In Contra Costa County, crews have been in the hills getting ready for the worst case scenario.
"We always don't know what to anticipate and sometimes we get drought and heavy rain so we always have to be as prepared as we can," Contra Costa County Fire Protection Battalion Chief Dominic Ciotola said. "We have learned the last few years not to get caught off guard."
Trucks have been cutting fire trails for fire engines to access. The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District has also started staffing its wildland units and new this year, fire control workers -- a team comprised of those aspiring to become firefighters.
"We depend a lot on CalFire which is really helpful but again as resources get stretched to have them assist and even the mop up process to release our primary vehicles is going to be extremely helpful," Ciotola said.
Plans are in the works to provide more space at command centers, in case of a wildfire to try to limit the number of first responders coming in contact with the virus. But when a wildfire is raging firefighters realize they may not be able to follow COVID-19 protocols.
CalFire says it has added resources to be able to fight fires from the air. The goal right now though is to focus on prevention. and have homeowners help to create defensible space.
