ETV Bharat / international

Efforts to douse California wildfires

The National Guard troops will be pressed into service to douse and protect the communities the California wildfire. The state is pulling the troops away from President Donald Trump's border protection efforts and devoting them to fire protection.

Efforts to douse California wildfires

Efforts to douse California wildfires

By

Published : Mar 20, 2019, 1:44 PM IST

California: California is calling in the National Guard for the first time to help protect communities from wildfires like the one that destroyed much of the city of Paradise last fall.

Efforts to douse California wildfires

The state is pulling the troops away from President Donald Trump's border protection efforts and devoting them to fire protection, another area where the president has been critical of California officials.

Starting next month, 110 California National Guard troops will receive 11 days of training in using shovels, rakes and chain saws to thin trees and brush.

They'll be divided into five teams that will work on forest management projects around the state.

The projects are intended to slow advancing flames. Critics say they damage forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires.

Also Read:Bolivia coca farmers protest against eradication efforts

Critics say the work damages forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires, like the one that jumped a river to rain embers on the Sierra Nevada foothills community of Paradise last year, killing 85 people in and around the Northern California city of 27,000 people.

California: California is calling in the National Guard for the first time to help protect communities from wildfires like the one that destroyed much of the city of Paradise last fall.

Efforts to douse California wildfires

The state is pulling the troops away from President Donald Trump's border protection efforts and devoting them to fire protection, another area where the president has been critical of California officials.

Starting next month, 110 California National Guard troops will receive 11 days of training in using shovels, rakes and chain saws to thin trees and brush.

They'll be divided into five teams that will work on forest management projects around the state.

The projects are intended to slow advancing flames. Critics say they damage forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires.

Also Read:Bolivia coca farmers protest against eradication efforts

Critics say the work damages forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires, like the one that jumped a river to rain embers on the Sierra Nevada foothills community of Paradise last year, killing 85 people in and around the Northern California city of 27,000 people.

RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY
SHOTLIST:
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
ARCHIVE - Lakeport, California - 31 July 2018
1. Firefighters watching wildfire
2. Firefighting helicopter
2. Flames
4. Wide of wildfire
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Santa Cruz Mountains, California - 13 March 2019
5. Cal Fire firefighter uses chain saw to clear brush near fire road
6. Pan from mountains to Cal Fire crew doing fuel-reduction work
7. Crew uses puts branches and small trees into wood chipper
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Mathiesen, Cal Fire Battalion Chief:
"Seven firefighters out here today working. If we had you know 25 to 30 we'd be able to do more than the 500 feet at a time. The brush up here is extremely thick. It hasn't burned in 40 years. So it takes time to cut through it and chip it."
9. Close up of branches going into wood chipper
10. Wood chips flying through the air
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Mathiesen, Cal Fire Battalion Chief:
"What we're doing is we're treating the ridge line by reducing the impact a fire might have if it started below us or on the other side of the ridge from us here."
12. Wide shot of wood chipping operation
13. Firefighter drags branch towards wood chipper
14. Side shot of firefighters putting trees into chipper
15. Close up picking up tree limbs and debris
16. Medium shot putting branches into chipper
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Mathiesen, Cal Fire Battalion Chief:
"It buys us time to be able to get people up here to fight the fire. It buys the residents that live up here an opportunity to get out."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Oakland, California - 11 March 2019
18. Center for Biological Diversity office entrance
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Shaye Wolf, Scientist, Center for Biological Diversity:
"Cal Fire is taking the Trump approach, logging the forest and weakening critical environmental protections, and that's the exact opposite of what we need to be doing."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Santa Cruz Mountains, California - 13 March 2019
20. Chain saw lays on ground as Cal Fire crew works
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Oakland, California - 11 March 2019
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Shaye Wolf, Scientist, Center for Biological Diversity:
"Study after study shows that the most effective way to keep homes from burning during a wildfire is focusing on the homes themselves. So retrofitting the home with proven fire safety measures and pruning vegetation in the defensible space immediately surrounding homes. That's what the state should be investing in and yet Cal Fire's report directs no resources toward what's proven to be most effective in protecting homes."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Santa Cruz Mountains, California - 13 March 2019
22. Truck towing wood chipper drives towards camera
23. Truck towing wood chipper drives by tree stump
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
ARCHIVE - Lakeport, California - 31 July 2018
24. Smoke billowing from wildfire
25. Various of firefighters looking at wildfire
STORLYLINE:
California is calling in the National Guard for the first time to help protect communities from wildfires like the one that destroyed much of the city of Paradise last fall.
The state is pulling the troops away from President Donald Trump's border protection efforts and devoting them to fire protection, another area where the president has been critical of California officials.
Starting next month, 110 California National Guard troops will receive 11 days of training in using shovels, rakes and chain saws to thin trees and brush.
They'll be divided into five teams that will work on forest management projects around the state.
The projects are intended to slow advancing flames. Critics say they damage forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires.
Critics say the work damages forests and can be useless against wind-driven fires, like the one that jumped a river to rain embers on the Sierra Nevada foothills community of Paradise last year, killing 85 people in and around the Northern California city of 27,000 people.
===========================================================
Clients are reminded:
(i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com
(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service
(iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory.

For All Latest Updates

TAGGED:

California wildfires

California National Guard

Copyright © 2025 Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., All Rights Reserved.