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Science
CalFire Setting Up for Busy Season
California fire crews are fighting the big wildfires in Colorado, but CalFire is also beefing up operations here at home, as the number of wildfires are up dramatically this year as compared to last year.
State and local firefighters have already responded to more than 2,500 wildfires this year in California. That's a thousand more fires than there were at this point last year.
“We're able to suppress all the fires, because we're able to keep up with it, weather hasn't been too extreme in terms of temperatures, but the conditions are certainly there and exist,” says Ken Pimlott, the director of CalFire.
He's watching what's happening in Colorado, to figure out what to expect here, and says that we need to be prepared for the same kinds of fires in California.
“We're seeing the same kinds of vegetation and fuel conditions that they are experiencing there,” he says, “and so all of that lines up to tell us; yeah we have the same potential.”
As of this week, CalFire is fully staffed in preparation for the height of fire season.
