PD Editorial: Being prepared as fire season gets longer

The stories and photos from Redding and Lakeport and other communities across California are frightening - and unnervingly familiar:

- Firefighters battling walls of flames as they try to save entire communities.

- Families gathering photo albums and personal papers, then driving away knowing their homes may not be standing when they return.

- People surveying the damage once the fire has passed.

- And, all too often, lives cut tragically short - people who couldn't away and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

This grim sequence is increasingly common as California's fire season gets longer and its wildfires gain intensity.

Since 2012, not a single month has passed without a wildland fire somewhere in the state.

So far this year, Cal Fire has reported 3,770 fires, burning 292,455 acres. That's up from 3,440 fires and 219,369 over the same period in 2017 - and, with fires in Lake and Mendocino counties doubling in size, the acreage has grown considerably since Cal Fire issued its weekly tally two days ago.

That's still only part of the picture. The U.S. Forest Service has responded to almost 800 wildfires on federal land in California, totaling more than 86,000 acres, so far this year.

“The entire northern part of the state has been besieged by fire for about a month now,” Dave Sapsis, a state wildfire specialist, told the Los Angeles Times.

This past week has seen fires spreading across California - closing Yosemite National Park and evacuations in Riverside and San Diego counties.

Hot weather, dry fuel - created in abundance by California's recent droughts - and the spread of development into formerly open spaces are all contributing factors.

With climate change bringing higher temperatures and longer hot spells - meaning even more dry fuel - fire seasons is becoming a year-round reality.

Firefighting agencies are adapting to the “new normal,” moving crews and equipment into areas when weather conditions raise the risk of wildfire to the highest levels. They're also dealing with fatigue as firefighters hustle from one disaster to the next, sometimes without any respite.

“It's a situation where we just have to keep going,” Redding fire Capt. Erick Mattson told the New York Times. “Those that have been in the fire service for a long time, they develop the skills necessary to cope with your body shutting down. That's kind of what we do. We encourage each other. We understand what the job is and what the end goal is. It's about serving the public, and that's what pushes us, even when the fire seasons go longer.”

There are things we - the public - can do to help Mattson and his fellow firefighters.

Install fire-safe landscaping, maintain a defensible space around your home, and be prepared to evacuate quickly. Fire Safe Sonoma, a local nonprofit organization, has a downloadable guide as its website, firesafesonoma.org.

Also, remember these lessons from Sonoma County's 2017 wildfires: make sure your insurance coverage is adequate, create a list or take photos of your belongings to document claims, and sign up for Nixle or SoCoAlert for text notifications.

California is, and always been, susceptible to wildfires, so be ready and be safe.

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