Over the past few years the growth of forest fires in California has been frightening. But when analyzing CalFire's approach to fire fighting, little has changed in the last 20 years, just the response of men and materials has grown in size. Massive armies of personnel and equipment are used in fighting a well established fire. But I see no adaptation to a quick response method for initial suppression of a fire at its start.

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." CAL FIRE must adopt and change with the technologies available and the situations of fires now occurring.

The causes of most of the fires started today, I believe, are arson and a rogue utility, PG&E. The closure of all national forests, I believe, has been in response to the recognition that arsonists are freely operating in our forests. I will leave that issue for another time.

Two major fires started without a quick and decisive action to stop, the Dixie Fire which started at a PG&E facility and the Caldor fire. The Caldor fire will be discussed shortly.

A year ago I completed a rather detailed you tube video on a different approach to fighting forest fires using advanced technology. It was laborious and highly technical but I hoped someone in decision-making capacity would consider it. See link.

I got little response. I was naive and did not realize that CAL FIRE, like many of the other State agencies, is a lumbering bureaucracy, not a streamlined agency staying on top of all the rapid tech changes that have occurred. But this is not to diminished the heroic efforts of the forest fire men and women who are at the frontlines.

At a press conference for the Caldor fire, the director of CAL FIRE gave an ominous statement to all Californians to be ready to leave their homes with a plan because he could guarantee that at some time, "EVERY ACRE in California is going to burn." He didn't say might burn, he said it will burn. Is he an arsonist, or have some preknowledge to such an event? Or maybe he is God.......

When I gathered more information on Cal Fire a pattern emerged: little to no use of advanced technology to rapidly respond to a fire at outbreak when its control can be quickly acquired. Instead, Cal Fire operated on the philosophy of assembling large amounts of resources to fight an established fire to stop its spread. Hopefully, this is not an action to keep an agency at full employment and in the public's admiration.

Three instances come to mind:

1. The last major fire to hit Santa Rosa actually started when a large forest fire was burning but beginning to be under containment. A second fire started, near the first. This new fire's origins was suspicious and probably arson as it occurred near a highway. Listening to the local SR 1350 AM station, CalFire announced that it would redirect resources against this new fire the following day since it was evening. ???? Not respond immediately?? Why??? No resources? That means poor organization for the failure to leave reserve resources specifically designed to fight a fire within the first eight hours of its start. That second fire was the one that devastated Santa Rosa.

2. A friend who lived rurally in the Georgetown region of the Sierras where a fire occurred never got the interest or response from Cal Fire. It was off a dirt road. The neighbors went around and formed a team to address the fire since Cal fire was called and they were told that no response would be immediately forthcoming. Lack of resources was the reason given. The neighbors where able to contain the fire by around 2 am to an area about an acre. Burning embers still existed that could flare up so they called Cal Fire again and asked to send support. Nothing. They wound up having one person stay with the fire to control flareups for the next 12 hours and the fire was stopped.

3. I watched on a local TV station website a short clip that interviewed some residents of Grizzly Flat where the Caldor fire started. One resident said that he and his neighbors witnessed the start of the Caldor fire in the distance, they called Cal Fire, and no equipment or response from Cal Fire was offered at the time, as all resources were tied up with the Dixie Fire.

This problem could be solved by the creation of special strike forces within the state for immediate fire suppression, with localized branches in the areas of highest forest fire danger. Maybe keep it out of the jurisdiction of CAL FIRE and let it directly report to the Governor. They should be the most agile and technically equipped team that CalFire has to offer — kind of a "Navy Seal" type where the best of the best are trained for this mission. They should only be deployed for stopping or slowing down a fire at or near its inception, not for the day after day fighting that it seems all our forest fires turn into.

After 8-10 hours of deployment, regardless of outcome, they should be recalled and other resources, if needed, be used. That is, to never allow again such a situation where CAL FIRE has consumed all its responsive resources and allows such a fire as Caldor to grow initially with no response.

Of course the use of controlled burns and cleaning out of ladder fuels throughout the national forest system where a road exists should be done, even on minor forest service roads. This gives CAL FIRE preset battle lines it can use to hold and slow a fire's progress.

And finally the use of residents in the areas where these fires are occurring should be considered. The areas where fires have started are evacuated. There are numerous people who are helpless in an evacuation center. But could some of them be actually used in stopping or slowing a fire rather than sitting idle and watching helplessly?

A comprehensive volunteer fire fighting training program should be implemented in these areas for residents willing to participate. These individuals can be trained to assist in the identification of spot fires that are the spread by wild fires as they mature. They could also be trained in techniques of stopping a fire at its inception where access to this fire exists. But not fighting directly on the fire lines where the danger is high. Volunteer fire fighting is used in many areas where keeping a paid workforce is not practical.

~ Arnie Ward