The United Air Firefighters Association has dispatched about 200 airmen to Southern California to fight the massive ongoing wildfires, with the association's leader telling Fox News Digital that the scope of the fires is "totally demoralizing" and will become a U.S. One of the worst fires. the history of the nation.
“What we’re seeing, especially in the United States and around the world, is that instead of having fire season, we have fires year-round,” Paul Peterson said Wednesday. “(This) could end up being the deadliest, climate-damaging disaster in U.S. history One of the worst fires."
The association's aerial firefighters, like airline pilots, are limited to eight-hour shifts in the air. However, Peterson said they operate 24-hour shifts. At night, pilots are equipped with night vision goggles, he said. They communicate the location of flames from the air to firefighters on the ground and spray water or fire-retardant substances from above.
Aircraft provided by the association include helicopters such as Black Hawks and ACH 47 Chinooks, as well as aerial tankers such as Grumman S-2T and Lockheed C-130H, which can carry thousands of gallons of water. According to Cal Fire, they also offer "scoop" aircraft, which "scoop water from oceans, lakes and reservoirs, either as plain water or mixed with foam retardants."
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On January 11, 2025, a plane fell from the sky as smoke billowed from the Mandeville Canyon Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, California, USA. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
The planes join a large fleet trying to put out fires in Southern California. Cal Fire currently has a firefighting fleet of more than 60 aircraft and helicopters; Cal Fire also lists three King Air A200 twin turboprop aircraft as its "tactical air aircraft." The Air National Guard has flown C-130 Hercules aircraft "equipped with a modular aerial firefighting system" to the Los Angeles area where they will perform missions.
"I've only seen the pictures, and I've talked to the fire chiefs there, and they made sure the disaster was worse than what you see on TV, worse than you think," he said. "It's completely demoralizing from a firefighter's perspective because firefighters are there to solve a problem and their people call them on their worst day. And you try to solve the problem and you can't. "
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As of Wednesday, the Palisade, Eaton, Hurst and Otter fires across the state have burned more than 40,000 acres and more than 12,300 homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Palisades Fire, which has burned more than 23,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, is only 19% contained, according to the agency.
"When 13,000 homes are destroyed, you know that pisses off a lot of firefighters because they don't have the resources to do it," Peterson said.
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On Monday, January 13, 2025, artist Sergei Statsenko, also known as Stick, painted a mural to thank firefighters as wildfires burned in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
"There are a few different components to this," Peterson said of why recent fires have been so devastating. "When you have extreme weather, you know, Santa Ana winds blowing at 50, 60, 70, 80 miles an hour, and then you introduce fire into it... it moves so fast that people are caught off guard .it.
"Communities that are not prepared, firefighters are surprised by this... When you start losing home after home, neighborhood after neighborhood, you're just trying to figure out how do we stop this? And, you You know, there’s really no playbook for how to put out a fire.”
Fox News Digital previously reported that the city's hydrants were running out of water as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, and the department's budget was cut just weeks before the Palisades fire broke out.
"Without increased funding for wildland fires, we're going to continue to see this over and over again," Peterson said. "(It) not only recognizes that this is a year-round fire season, but also has the funding and funding "
A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation worker works on a containment line in front of the Palisades Fire on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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"We very much need to look at how to actually start fighting at the local, state and federal level when fires and suppression are a big part of it," he continued. "You have to fight. You have to put out the fires that are already there. But also There has to be fuel processing, logging, grazing, green stripping, and insurance companies have to provide incentives for fire-adapted communities to do that."
"It takes a tragedy for people to really realize this," Peterson said. "For 25 years, firefighters have been talking about this problem and these problems keep happening."
Two men were charged with felony arson this week as authorities in Los Angeles battled arsonists and looters amid chaos. Peterson said it was unlikely the fire started naturally, through lightning or spontaneous combustion.
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On January 11, 2025, a helicopter fell from the sky as smoke billowed from the Palisades Fire in the Encino community of Los Angeles, California, USA. (Reuters/Daniel Dreyfuss)
"I can tell you with 99 percent certainty that this was not lightning and it really didn't have any natural onset... (With lightning), typically you'll see weather or you'll see high clouds with accumulating rain Clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds don't form in high winds like Santa Ana winds...Lightning is the primary cause," he said.
"So whether it's arson or citizen negligence or whether it's a fire caused by a utility company (most likely) ... wind is a natural event, fire is a natural event, but the cause of the fire is not natural," he said .