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Cal Fire Shasta-Trinity Unit/FacebookAs Independence Day looms, so too does a heat wave that's expected throughout Southern Oregon and Northern California. The combination of strong winds, low humidity and firework use is increasing the threat of wildfires. -
Kristian Carreon/CalMattersAs nights warm and droughts intensify, past models predicting fire behavior have become unreliable. So California is working with analysts and tapping into new technology to figure out how to attack wildfires. Gleaned from military satellites, drones and infrared mapping, the information is spat out in real time and triaged by a fire behavior analyst.
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This week, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection awarded $3 million to Sierra Pacific Industries to jumpstart production of tree seedlings for wildfire restoration. -
Moderate weather and well-timed rainstorms in much of California combined to curb the acreage and structures burned. -
The yearlong investigation revealed how the Forest Service warned 鈥� for decades 鈥� that a wildfire could wipe out the small town of Grizzly Flats, but the agency didn鈥檛 fulfill its plan to protect the town. -
Cal Fire has publicly signaled a commitment to rebalancing its priorities. But a monthslong investigation by The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the department continues to fumble key responsibilities related to forest management and wildfire mitigation. -
About 10% of Cal Fire鈥檚 workforce quit the agency last year. 鈥淲e are at critical mass, guaranteed,鈥� one Cal Fire captain said. Workers鈥� comp cases for PTSD are routinely denied, and many crews are fatigued from working weeks at a time with no time off. -
With what could well be another demanding fire season coming on, California State Senator Mike McGuire has authored a bill to increase staffing and ease the burden on overstressed firefighters. -
Native people and their allies are pushing back against plans by Cal Fire to log in California's largest state-owned forest. -
UPDATE: THURSDAY, NOV.7 10:00 a.m. Titan Cheatham, the firefighter injured in the Kincade Fire, is still recovering at the burn center at UC Davis Medical鈥� -
Cal Fire officials say a slower fire season has given them more time to ensure property owners are maintaining a defensible space around structures.The鈥�
