Retired CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Mike Lopez discusses the challenges faced by firefighters battling the recent California wildfires. He praises the state's mutual aid system but emphasizes that budget cuts are hindering recruitment and retention, ultimately impacting firefighting efforts. Lopez states that despite the availability of resources, intense winds and rapidly spreading fires often force firefighters to prioritize rescue and life safety over complete extinguishment.
On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Retired CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Mike Lopez praised California’s mutual aid system and said that the recent fires would be tough to combat even with more firefighters, but budget cuts have created an issue with staffing.
Host Kasie Hunt asked, “We are seeing some political conversations already about this. I’m curious about the frontline firefighters’ view of what should be done, as these fires are clearly getting more intense, more dramatic. What do firefighters need? Is it more training? What kind of funds do you need? Is it — I know it’s different to fight a wildfire in the brush than it is to fight it in an urban area.
Lopez answered, “Well, throughout government, in California, and across the country, fire departments are at — they’re trying to retain as many firefighters as they can and trying to hire. But because of budget cuts along those lines, that always creates an issue, across this country, specifically, California. There’s a lot of that. But fire gets put out by firefighters. If you lack firefighters, that is one of the issues that really contributes to this.
He continued, “And the question is, is it always enough or is it enough? And we can send an extra 500 engines down there at the very beginning. But when you have 40-, 50-, 60-mile-an-hour winds come all at once with fires behind it, the firefighters are now into rescue, life safety, and they’re — and trying to extinguish all at once. So, that becomes very difficult.
WILDFIRE BUDGET CUTS FIRE FIGHTERS CALIFORNIA MUTUAL AID
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