Thick dark smoke rises over the valley floor as firefighters work to contain the Humboldt Fire which has grown to more than an 8000 acre fire on day two of the battle Thursday, June 12, 2008 in Paradise, Calif. Hot temperatures, steady winds and tinder-dry vegetation and trees have fueled separate blazes from Butte County north of Sacramento to the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County.
While the number of California fires is decreasing statewide, fire potential remains high for this weekend's Fourth of July celebrations.
To date, over 40,400 acres have burned in California. On Tuesday, about 1,400 fires raged statewide. By Wednesday, the count was down to 1,114. But the decreasing number of fires in California does not decrease the threat of fires this weekend.
"We're in a drought ... We have a lot of firefighters risking their lives," said Cal Fire Prevention Specialist Chris Morgan who is based in Morgan Hill.
The sheer number of fires currently burning in California has lead local fire departments to borrow equipment from across the nation.
"Right now we have equipment in from well over 40 states," said Morgan. Fire stations throughout the state are currently using 341 bulldozers, 142 helicopters and 508 handcrews. A Martin Mars, essentially a large flying boat, has also been brought in from Canada to dump water on the fires. About the size of a DC10, the Martin Mars is so large that it is only able to scoop water from Lake Shasta.
So far, fire-fighting forces have been very effective at protecting California homeowners. While 7,900 house are threatened by fire right now, only 31 residences, one commercial business and 28 outbuildings have burned. Precautionary evacuations, however, continue including ones in Big Sur and parts of six counties.
Trained volunteers are working alongside 19,200 firefighters. Volunteers are also running fire look-out stations, including a station a half mile past Mount Lick.
"Our volunteers are giving up their holiday," said Morgan. The day before the Fourth of July, he plans to purchase 30 pounds of potato salad to feed the fire-fighting forces - both staff and volunteer. The fire station is preparing a meal including tri-tip sandwiches for firefighters to enjoy between shifts.
"Hopefully this three or four-day weekend won't be a really hot weekend," he said. But regardless of the weather, the fire department will be fighting California fires. Mostly he urges people to keep fireworks celebrations in areas where they are legal. This Fourth of July, "We will have people patrolling" and "we are citing people" said Morgan. "Please give our firefighters a break."
Katie Helland Katie Helland is going to be a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School. You can reach her at (408) 846-6476.
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