Introducing CalFire—a firefighting-military crossover unit. We LOVE a man in uniform!
About American Forest Fires: The Untold Story: Are government policies and bureaucracy the REAL fire starters in America? Are answers to a major crisis staring us in the face? Learn what brought us to this point, and the innovative solutions which could keep disaster from setting nature ablaze.
This clip comes from Season 1, Episode 2: "Jump Into the Fire"
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00:01No state has more experience with megafires than California, with a total of 45,
00:07seven of which were in 2021 alone.
00:11In response, California now has one of the largest, most sophisticated and expansive firefighting forces in the world.
00:19Colors!
00:21Colors!
00:23Established in 1885, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
00:28also known as CAL FIRE, is on the cutting edge of modern fire suppression.
00:33How you good training today?
00:34Yes, sir!
00:35Are you motivated?
00:36Yes, sir!
00:37Dedicated, huh?
00:38Yes, sir!
00:39And it all starts at the CAL FIRE training facility in Ione, California.
00:43So now moving forward, the rest of the day, it's going to be reach down, grab a hold, dig deep, and give everything you've got.
00:51CAL FIRE, when people hear that name, they typically nowadays just think about wildland fires in the summertime.
00:57It is one of the largest fire departments in the United States and one of the largest ones in the world.
01:02Because every one of these instructors is going to give you everything they've got plus some, yeah?
01:07Yes, sir.
01:08Okay.
01:09It has so many layers to it through fuel management, through public education, through community risk reduction, through land use planning.
01:17With over 8,000 full and part-time employees spread out across 812 fire stations, some have likened CAL FIRE to a firefighting army.
01:28This is not by accident.
01:30After World War II, we got an inundation of World War II veterans. Same thing after Vietnam. So they brought a lot of those military aspects to them.
01:40We see the same formations, saluting the flag. Those same things all come from that tradition.
01:45Fire service is a paramilitaristic organization.
01:50Who wants to be here?
01:51I do, sir!
01:52Who wants to be here?
01:53I do, sir!
01:54Who wants to be here?
01:55Our mission isn't to go out and fight battles. It's to go out and protect the people and the resources.
02:01To serve, safeguard, and protect the people of California. But the reality is that we do so much more than just that.
02:07Many military practices were adapted to help CAL FIRE cope with the growing threat its firefighters face.
02:15Because they're so fast, they are burning so hot, and they're so dangerous, the tactics that were successful before are not going to work on these mega fires.
02:26If you don't have that military bearing, you don't have that style and that organization, it's not going to work out.
