Monday, 24 September 2007 23:42

Cal Fire has some Promising News

Fire season can turn on a dime in California -- but despite dry conditions this year the state's fire agency, Cal Fire, has some promising news, according to Capital Public Radio’s Jenny O'Mara. The state's fire agency, known as Cal Fire, has more than 30 million acres it's responsible for protecting. So far this year, despite dry conditions, spokesman Mike Jarvis says, they've managed to keep the number of acres burned to around 82-thousand.

That's down from more than 200-thousand acres burned through the same time period last year. Jarvis says a few things can explain for the success -- an increase in staff by a full 700 firefighters, and more firefighters on engines to attack fires aggressively right from the start. But Jarvis notes that conditions, along with the numbers, can change. He says they'll spend the next few months keeping an eye on the dry winds that come up from Southern California that make firefighting even tougher.  A Capital Public Radio story