Statewide, Iowa – An Iowan has first-hand knowledge of the problems firefighters in California are facing as wildfires rapidly consume homes and everything else. Ryan Schlater works in the DNR’s Wildfire Program and was on an assignment in California in July.
Schlater says a number of conditions have combined to make the current fires very tough to fight.
He says all the mountains and hills create a lot of issues for firefighters as well, along with drought conditions as lot of vegetation.
Schlater adds the high winds push the fires to all the various fuel sources.
Schlater says the fires have moved rapidly despite all the resources LA County has on the land and in the air to fight them.
Schlater says a fire moving this fast makes it tough to fight even from the air, because by the time they get up and ready to drop on a spot, the fire has moved several 100 yards from where they were called in.
Firefighters trained in Iowa frequently go to other states to help out. Schlater says they usually are getting the paperwork complete around this time of year to get people ready to go, so they don’t have anyone in California right now.
Schlater has fought wildfires for 20 years and says Southern California has been a place he never wanted to go to, because of all the danger with the tough conditions there.
