What is a productive way to view the first responder response to the LA firestorm and how can we help them do their jobs while protecting our home?
A home near the 2024 Point Fire burn scar, close to Healdsburg, CA.
A couple of days before the LA Firestorm I got an email from Cal Fire saying they were sending 45 engines and seven hand crews south from Nor Cal, based on Fire Weather Predictions. That equals about 250 firefighters. This is a proactive response from Cal Fire and SoCal agencies, but it illustrates the point that despite a great deal of pre-planning, our wildfire first responders are extremely outnumbered on the first day of a firestorm event. Based on the math alone, from just this deployment, one engine company (about 3 firefighters) is charged with protecting a large area.
There are no guarantees, but there is hope. Instead of becoming overwhelmed and feeling like things are completely out of our control, we should try and control what we can: our property. Hope in the wildfire industry means being properly prepared by improving defensible space and home hardening projects as recommended by a trained wildfire risk assessment professional.
Other priorities that help first responders and residents include: paying attention to Fire Weather, signing up for local official alerts (and the free wildfire alert app Watch Duty), prepping your property to the highest standards when the first warning goes out (cleaning, removing combustibles from the first 5 feet of your home, preparing to evacuate), and talking to your neighbors and joining a COPE (Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies) group.
While we applaud the helicopters, EMS, utility workers, law enforcement, and engine companies, we should not over rely on the cavalry. Instead, we should educate ourselves and control what we can.
Stuart Mitchell,
Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, NFPA