Fire Chasing News Today

gotten so bad that it wasnt safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, my elderly parent, and our kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. now back then, it seemed like a oneself-in-a-lifetime thing. >> rescue, what is your emergency? >> reporter: but ever since, the fires in california have gotten worse. >> dixie fire. >> woolsey fire. >> are more towns burned to the ground, more forests devastated a...

california history. >> agh. lucky for us the fires hadnt made it to where my family lives in oakland, but the air had gotten so bad that it wasnt safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, my elderly parent, and our kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. now back then, it seemed like a oneself-in-a-lifetime thing. >> fire rescue, what is your emergency? >> but ever since, the fires in california hav...

california history. >> ahh! lucky for us, the fires hadnt made it to where my family lives in oakland, but the air had gotten so bad that it wasnt safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, our elderly parents and kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. back then, it seemed like a once in a lifetime thing, but every year since, the fires in california have gotten worse. >> the dixie fire. >> the hill...

Chasing already sounds crazy, but fire chasing sounds even crazier. >> while its comforting to know that new technologies are being developed, weve got a bigger problem. to quote george clooney from oceans 11, we need more people. yep, california has a shortage of firefighters. according to one report, in 2021, only half of u.s. forest service fire engines were fully staffed. state and federal agencies struggled to retain firefighters because of burnout, long deployments, and often low pay. yeah...

Extremely dry out. we had extreme winds, which makes it easier for the fire to move forward. its in very steep terrain. fire likes to move uphill. and then we had a lot of dead fuels because of drought. >> are there technologies being worked on or things that you feel hopeful about that were developing? >> yeah, the wharf-f fire, the forecast model we run takes all the factors, the weather, the fuel, the topography and show you an exact picture of how that fire is going to move over time. so we ...

Its in very steep terrain. fire likes to move uphill. and then we had a lot of dead fuels because of drought. >> are there technologies being worked on or things that you feel hopeful about that were developing? >> yeah, the wharf-f fire, the forecast model we run takes all the factors, the weather, the fuel, the topography and show you an exact picture of how that fire is going to move over time. so we have two different trucks. when is a lidar truck. one is a radar truck. its basically like st...