Facing Down California’s Monster Fires

Gus Boston is one of those people who plans for the worst. When he enters a movie theater, he locates the exits. He sits in the emergency row on airplanes. 他在远离野火高风险的地方买下了加州北部的房子. 这种心态是他在工作中如此出色的部分原因, 这很可能救了他一两次命.

“We think we’re in control,” he says, “but we are not.”

Working for CalFire, 波士顿已经被召集到一些最大的前线, most out-of-control fires California has seen. Two of those fires are the Carr Fire and the Camp Fire.

THE FIRE HE THOUGHT WOULD DEFINE HIS CAREER

It all started with a flat tire on July 23, 2018. 边缘碰到了人行道，产生的火花点燃了一场持续37天的大火，被称为卡尔大火. Boston got the call. He knew the landscape. He had fought fires here before. “早在21世纪初，我就曾在法国大火和熊大火中处于同一立场, so I was familiar with it,他指出.

The problem was what was different. This area of the region had multiple large fire scars. Rather than well-developed forest cover, 大部分景观都有更均匀的再生——高度和密度都是一样的. 波士顿说:“这主要是一片灌木地，上面有以前火灾留下的枯加拿大28回水。. 雪上加霜的是，整个州都在遭受极端干旱的困扰. And some of the forest canopy had been damaged by insects, leaving more weak and dead trees to fuel the flames.

The land was stressed, and the fire took advantage.

当野火到达这个地区时，它也遇到了该地区特有的天气条件. 来自海洋的冷空气和变暖导致风在下午晚些时候不断改变方向. 最后, 在灭火时保证船员和设备的安全将是一个更大的挑战. “The rates of spread were pretty extreme. That first operational period, 我想我们必须三次把资源转移到安全地带,” recalls Boston.

当他思考灭火时，一切都归结为意识. “When you’re out there, 你在地面上所做的每一个决定都是非常复杂的情况，你的生命取决于你所做的决定——因为唯一能让你离开的就是你的靴子. You’re far away from everybody and everything. You have to be really in tune with your fire environment. Your decision-making has to be right on the money. 如果你走错了一步，你可能会陷入严重的境地，”波士顿解释说.

8月30日，大火被扑灭后，造成了前所未有的破坏. 近230,000 acres were burned, 8人丧生(包括一些正在救火的人), and thousands of homes were destroyed.

“In the Carr Fire, I thought I had seen everything. I thought that was a 职业生涯 event,” says Boston. “And then I saw the Camp Fire.”

A FIERY REMINDER THAT NATURE’S IN CHARGE

On November 8, 就在卡尔大火最终被扑灭四个月后, the Camp Fire raged to life. 强风吹倒了一根电力线，野火从那里迅速蔓延. 它直接向天堂、马加利亚和康考的社区飞去.

Right away, Boston knew this fire was different. “It was Mother Nature telling us that she is in control.”

他以前也曾在这个分水岭地区扑灭过火灾. He knew the old fire scars had exposed the land, creating a clear path of least resistance for the wind. “I refer to it now as a gun barrel. It really has this effect that, as the wind is coming down the canyon, it compresses and increases the intensity and speed. And there’s nothing holding it back now,” he describes. 有了这些因素，这片土地发生灾难性大火的时机已经成熟.

最初的24小时是他过去从未经历过的, 但意想不到的危机情况是消防队员准备的. “It was overwhelming. It really was,” says Boston. “But it’s about leadership. 我们被教导的一件事是，你必须有一个计划. If the plan doesn’t work, 在你找到解决问题的办法之前，你仍然需要指挥和控制. 我走了进来, developed a plan early on, started breaking divisions out, assigning resources, and working in conjunction with the incident commander. 在我们所处的情况下，这是让人们集中注意力的原因.”

And keeping focus was key. The fire was moving rapidly. People’s lives were at stake.

训练和本能是波士顿和其他消防员坚持下去的动力. They always rely on the 10个标准消防命令和18个警戒情况 — as well as their guts — to guide them. 他们优先考虑拯救生命、疏散社区和保护家园. 他们面临着倒下的电线和切断逃生路线的火焰. They fought with everything they had. And after 17 days, the fire was finally contained.

In the days following the Camp Fire, devastating statistics began to stack up: more than 150,000 acres burned, 52,000 people evacuated, 和9,000 homes destroyed. 可悲的是, 85 people lost their lives, 使坎普大火成为美国近百年来最致命的火灾.

THE IMPORTANT INSIGHT HE NOW SHARES

Still with CalFire, 波士顿现在每天都在计划和执行可以帮助避免这种严重火灾的项目. But his time on the front line will stay with him always.

“营火期间发生的事情给我留下了很大的创伤，我没有真正说出我的想法. I just shut down post-fire. Now I’m actually starting to open up,” he reflects. “我希望人们能够吸取我们从这些重大事件中学到的教训，并在他们的社区和森林中加以利用.”

What are those lessons? Fuels (grass, 灌木, 倒下的加拿大28回水木, 叶子, 在森林覆盖范围内，需要减少在野火中燃烧的针叶, making a forest resilient from the impacts of wildfire. 社区不仅需要为火焰做好准备，还需要应对紧急事件期间没有电力或手机服务等挑战. And nature needs a boost from forest restoration efforts.

“I live in Paradise. 我知道看着我的社区被摧毁是什么感觉，”波士顿说. “但火灾环境也以极快的速度摧毁了这么多流域的栖息地，它正在改变我们的环境. 它改变了我们对美国西部的看法.”