Regis Philbin
Jul 1st, 2008, 07:48 PM
:sunny: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080701/D91KVL300.html
What is extraordinary this year is the number of fires burning at the same time, Kirchner said. The weekend of June 21 saw some 1,200 fires burning - a figure Forest Service officials said appeared to be an all-time record in California.
California firefighters have to pick their battles
Jul 1, 5:32 AM (ET)
By SCOTT LINDLAW
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The unprecedented number and size of wildfires burning in California this year has forced firefighters to strategically choose which ones to tackle.
Their plan is this: Crews are dispatched to protect communities in the path of flames, while blazes are allowed to chew through acres of forest land.
Officials say the tactic is necessary in a fire season that already has seen hot weather, rough terrain and lightning storms complicate efforts to bring blazes under control.
"It's like eating an elephant - you've got to eat it one bite at a time," said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "We have to take a step back, figure out where the best place is to make a stand and sometimes wait for the fire to come to us in those situations."
What is extraordinary this year is the number of fires burning at the same time, Kirchner said. The weekend of June 21 saw some 1,200 fires burning - a figure Forest Service officials said appeared to be an all-time record in California.
California firefighters have to pick their battles
Jul 1, 5:32 AM (ET)
By SCOTT LINDLAW
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The unprecedented number and size of wildfires burning in California this year has forced firefighters to strategically choose which ones to tackle.
Their plan is this: Crews are dispatched to protect communities in the path of flames, while blazes are allowed to chew through acres of forest land.
Officials say the tactic is necessary in a fire season that already has seen hot weather, rough terrain and lightning storms complicate efforts to bring blazes under control.
"It's like eating an elephant - you've got to eat it one bite at a time," said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "We have to take a step back, figure out where the best place is to make a stand and sometimes wait for the fire to come to us in those situations."