00:00During wildfire emergencies, the Forest Service is part of the Unified Command,
00:06along with CAL FIRE and other agencies. So how does the cooperative efforts work?
00:11Yeah, so obviously wildfires don't stop at jurisdictional boundaries. So what we do is
00:16put leadership at the very top levels of managing a fire to make sure that the needs of each agency
00:21and each jurisdiction are met appropriately. And of course, we hear at AccuWeather it all
00:27is about the weather. So how is weather impacting Forest Service planning for the
00:31many fires you're fighting across California? Yeah, so this is a really interesting year.
00:37Oftentimes when we see big fire years, it's because we're seeing wind events. You know,
00:41you hear about them, those magic words, the Santa Anas, the Diablos, those things.
00:45That's not the case this year. What we're seeing are very, very hot, dry temperatures on top of
00:52abundant fuel loading. So that means we have a lot of vegetation on the ground and hot,
00:57dry temperatures to dry it out. Let's talk about Sequoia National Park. It's one of the areas
01:03Forest Service is battling wildfires. And what makes that specific fire unique?
01:09Yeah, so the Burrell Fire, which is in the Sequoia National Forest, is just like the one
01:13up above Chico. It's being driven by fuels and alignment. Fire loves to run uphill. And in
01:19California, we have huge drainages that are just full of vegetation, especially this year. And so
01:26fire is finding those drainages and roaring up them with that abundant vegetation and those dry
01:33temperatures exacerbating the problem. All right. We spoke about what really is fueling the fires
01:38this summer with some of the extreme heat and the drought conditions. So do you have any advice that
01:43you can give people who may be watching, who live in these areas or who may be visiting and doing
01:48some camping? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, first of all, stay tuned for air quality. It's not good
01:54for any of us to be outside in the smoke, especially be careful of those kids and those
01:59more elderly people or those with compromised immune systems. But then also just be really
02:05aware and conscious of your behavior when you're out in the wildlands. You know, over 85 percent of
02:12fires are still human caused. And we really need to be careful and use common sense when we're
02:18recreating in the wildlands.
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