As lethal wildfires unfold and hundreds of Los Angeles County residents flee for their lives, there are courageous Individuals who’re going towards the hazard to combat the flames.
John Mixson, a retired U.S. Coast Guard helicopter search and rescue plane commander, is aware of the dangers posed to the crew members battling the fires. Crews resumed flights Wednesday after being grounded since Tuesday night.
“There’s a number of completely different hazards concerned that is distinctive to the operation that they do,” Mixson instructed Fox Information Digital. “Some of the obvious ones is the low altitude above hilly terrain in excessive wind circumstances, which is what they’re battling now.”
Air crews working to comprise the wildfires are grappling with a number of obstacles as nicely. Mixson identified that via the smoke these crews should additionally keep away from different plane, terrain and on a regular basis hazards corresponding to radio towers.
Fires burn within the Hollywood Hills space of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)
Along with the disturbing circumstances, operators in firefighting plane additionally should deal with populated areas rigorously. This implies navigating tips on how to put out the blaze whereas coping with not solely “private property, however personnel and life.”
Fireplace personnel reply to properties destroyed whereas a helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fireplace in California on Jan. 7, 2025. (David Swanson/AFP through Getty Photos)
PALISADES RESIDENT DESCRIBES LOSING HOME IN FIRES
Regardless of the excessive stress of the job, which Mixson admits is “difficult and really hazardous,” he expressed confidence in those that are combating the devastating fires.
“The crews that do it are all extraordinarily, extraordinarily extremely educated particularly for the specialised mission,” Mixson mentioned. “This is not a secondary mission for the Cal Fireplace people or any of the DoD or Forest Service firefighting people. Identical to the U.S. Coast Guard, they’re very, very specialised in what they do. It is extremely, very hazardous, it’s extremely difficult. However they’re additionally very, very extremely educated, uniquely to the precise job.”
A firefighting plane drops hearth retardant Phos-Chek because the Palisades Fireplace burns amid a strong windstorm on Jan. 7, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Photos)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The wildfires devastating Los Angeles County have left 5 useless and compelled hundreds to flee their properties. LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are going through increasing criticism for his or her response to the catastrophe. Bass, particularly, has confronted backlash not just for being in a foreign country when the fires started, however for slashing her metropolis’s hearth division’s funds by $17 million.
On Thursday, LA County Fireplace Division Chief Anthony Marrone introduced that the expansion of the Eaton Fireplace had been “considerably stopped.” The wildfires burned over 29,000 acres as of noon Thursday, in line with Cal Fire.
FOLLOW THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES LIVE HERE
Source link