The head of the United Aerial Firefighters Association, Paul Petersen, spoke to Fox News Digital about the devastating scope of the ongoing wildfires in Southern California, calling them 'totally demoralizing' and predicting they could become some of the deadliest and most climate-costliest in US history. He emphasized the year-round nature of fire season and the challenges faced by firefighters battling these rapidly spreading blazes.
The head of the United Aerial Firefighters Association, which has deployed about 200 pilots to Southern California to fight massive ongoing wildfires, told Fox News Digital that the scope of the fires is 'totally demoralizing' and shaping up to be some of the worst in the nation's history. 'What we are seeing, especially in the United States and worldwide, is there is no longer a fire season – it is fire year-round,' Paul Petersen said on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, more than 40,000 acres and more than 12,300 homes have burned across the state between the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Auto Wildfires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Palisades Fire, which has consumed more than 23,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, is only 19% contained, according to the agency.
can tell you probably with 99% surety that it wasn't lightning and there really wasn't any natural start to that… lightning, typically you'll get weather or you get high clouds coming in with cumulonimbus. Cumulonimbus doesn't form with high winds Santa Ana winds… Lightning is about the number one cause,' he said.
WILDFIRES CALIFORNIA CLIMATE CHANGE FIREFIGHTERS AIR TACTICAL
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