Liz Weil

In our county, people are very, very nervous and understandably so. You have this fire burning and then the winds come up and usually it goes well, but occasionally the fire jumps and houses burn down and then people are furious and feel like, why didn't we just put this whole damn thing out?

In our county, people are very, very nervous and understandably so. You have this fire burning and then the winds come up and usually it goes well, but occasionally the fire jumps and houses burn down and then people are furious and feel like, why didn't we just put this whole damn thing out?

And when you have that repeated again and again and again, you get in the situation like you were just reading those numbers about where we're not burning nearly enough. And so when the fire weather comes, when the winds are blowing, when it hasn't rained, when all of these climate change impacts are happening and all of these fires are made worse by climate change.

And when you have that repeated again and again and again, you get in the situation like you were just reading those numbers about where we're not burning nearly enough. And so when the fire weather comes, when the winds are blowing, when it hasn't rained, when all of these climate change impacts are happening and all of these fires are made worse by climate change.

And when you have that repeated again and again and again, you get in the situation like you were just reading those numbers about where we're not burning nearly enough. And so when the fire weather comes, when the winds are blowing, when it hasn't rained, when all of these climate change impacts are happening and all of these fires are made worse by climate change.

If we haven't been able to manage it. And so like, yes, politically, theoretically, everybody's for it. At a local level, people are very upset.

If we haven't been able to manage it. And so like, yes, politically, theoretically, everybody's for it. At a local level, people are very upset.

If we haven't been able to manage it. And so like, yes, politically, theoretically, everybody's for it. At a local level, people are very upset.

I mean, it's a huge funding problem. It's being reported, sometimes misreported this week out of Los Angeles. Firefighting is incredibly expensive. And there are several firefighting agencies in California. So there's the Forest Service, and then there's also CAL FIRE. So it's basically the federal firefighters and the state firefighters, and then there are county firefighters too. And so...

I mean, it's a huge funding problem. It's being reported, sometimes misreported this week out of Los Angeles. Firefighting is incredibly expensive. And there are several firefighting agencies in California. So there's the Forest Service, and then there's also CAL FIRE. So it's basically the federal firefighters and the state firefighters, and then there are county firefighters too. And so...

I mean, it's a huge funding problem. It's being reported, sometimes misreported this week out of Los Angeles. Firefighting is incredibly expensive. And there are several firefighting agencies in California. So there's the Forest Service, and then there's also CAL FIRE. So it's basically the federal firefighters and the state firefighters, and then there are county firefighters too. And so...

There's not enough money. There's often not enough personnel. A lot of those personnel are California inmates, which is a whole other issue that we could get into or not get into. It's an economic mess. And there are times when the federal firefighting policy and the CAL FIRE policy are not in line. And so there's just like a political mess of what exactly to do and who's the boss.

There's not enough money. There's often not enough personnel. A lot of those personnel are California inmates, which is a whole other issue that we could get into or not get into. It's an economic mess. And there are times when the federal firefighting policy and the CAL FIRE policy are not in line. And so there's just like a political mess of what exactly to do and who's the boss.

There's not enough money. There's often not enough personnel. A lot of those personnel are California inmates, which is a whole other issue that we could get into or not get into. It's an economic mess. And there are times when the federal firefighting policy and the CAL FIRE policy are not in line. And so there's just like a political mess of what exactly to do and who's the boss.

Yes. So the seasonal firefighting workforce, there's a whole host of issues there of people who don't want to just be like seasonal contract employees anyway. But yes, so the seasonal workforce is down. Also, the firefighting resources are often shared with Canada and Australia, like the big planes that come and like scoop water out of the ocean and dump them on the fire.

Yes. So the seasonal firefighting workforce, there's a whole host of issues there of people who don't want to just be like seasonal contract employees anyway. But yes, so the seasonal workforce is down. Also, the firefighting resources are often shared with Canada and Australia, like the big planes that come and like scoop water out of the ocean and dump them on the fire.

Yes. So the seasonal firefighting workforce, there's a whole host of issues there of people who don't want to just be like seasonal contract employees anyway. But yes, so the seasonal workforce is down. Also, the firefighting resources are often shared with Canada and Australia, like the big planes that come and like scoop water out of the ocean and dump them on the fire.

So right now it's summer in Australia. They don't have planes to send us. They need to be fighting their own fires. But usually it is worked in the past for like it's winter here. We can send our resources there and it's, you know, and vice versa. So part of what's happening, too, is due to the fact that it's January, those resources aren't available either.

So right now it's summer in Australia. They don't have planes to send us. They need to be fighting their own fires. But usually it is worked in the past for like it's winter here. We can send our resources there and it's, you know, and vice versa. So part of what's happening, too, is due to the fact that it's January, those resources aren't available either.

So right now it's summer in Australia. They don't have planes to send us. They need to be fighting their own fires. But usually it is worked in the past for like it's winter here. We can send our resources there and it's, you know, and vice versa. So part of what's happening, too, is due to the fact that it's January, those resources aren't available either.