Posted on Jul 3, 2021
Meet the all-female fire crew tackling California’s wildfires
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A Walmart cashier, a lemonade vendor, an aspiring fashion designer and a graduate with a degree in native plants. These are some of the eclectic back stories of the first-ever, all-female wildland firefighting crew of the California Conservation Corps (CCC).
Inland Crew 5 from San Bernardino are a cheerful, wise-cracking and gritty band of 14 young women who have stepped up to the daunting challenge of fighting the state’s worsening wildfires.
The crew is part of the CCC, or “Cee’s” as it’s often dubbed, America’s oldest and largest conservation corps. Since the mid-Seventies, those aged 18 to 25 (or up to 29 for military vets) have joined its ranks as “corpsmembers”, where they train in an array of skills related to environmental work, fire protection, land maintenance, and emergency disaster response.
Inland Crew 5 is one of more than 20 fire crews acting as an informal pipeline for state and federal fire agencies who are trying to bolster numbers in the wake of longer and more extreme wildfire seasons.
Inland Crew 5 from San Bernardino are a cheerful, wise-cracking and gritty band of 14 young women who have stepped up to the daunting challenge of fighting the state’s worsening wildfires.
The crew is part of the CCC, or “Cee’s” as it’s often dubbed, America’s oldest and largest conservation corps. Since the mid-Seventies, those aged 18 to 25 (or up to 29 for military vets) have joined its ranks as “corpsmembers”, where they train in an array of skills related to environmental work, fire protection, land maintenance, and emergency disaster response.
Inland Crew 5 is one of more than 20 fire crews acting as an informal pipeline for state and federal fire agencies who are trying to bolster numbers in the wake of longer and more extreme wildfire seasons.
Meet the all-female fire crew tackling California’s wildfires
Posted from independent.co.uk
Firefighting
Conservation
San Bernardino
Posted 3 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...."Unprecedented blazes ripped through 4.2 million acres and 10,000 buildings in California last year, leaving 33 people dead including four firefighters. The National Weather Service issued what’s believed to be first ever warning for a “fire tornado” – a phenomenon caused by intense flames pushing hot air upwards – for an area near Loyalton, northeastern California.
This year looks set to see another prolonged fire season. So far this year, 3,539 fires have been reported in California, compared with 2,875 over the same period in 2020. The number of acres burned has jumped 58 per cent year on year.
As more fires ignite and the demand for firefighters increases, the US National Interagency Fire Centre last week raised the national preparedness to level four on its 1-5 scale. It’s the fourth time in the last 20 years that it has hit that level in June. Around 9,000 firefighters are already on the ground, battling blazes.
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Jasmine Valencia, 23, had jobs in boat sales and selling lemonade at music festivals before she saw a flier for the CCC while on a hike in Yosemite National Park. She joined Inland Crew 5 in December and has already been on the ground fighting fires.
“At first it feels like you’re on a different planet,” she tells The Independent. “It was eye-opening, like, ‘Oh, I’m really doing this.'"....
...."Unprecedented blazes ripped through 4.2 million acres and 10,000 buildings in California last year, leaving 33 people dead including four firefighters. The National Weather Service issued what’s believed to be first ever warning for a “fire tornado” – a phenomenon caused by intense flames pushing hot air upwards – for an area near Loyalton, northeastern California.
This year looks set to see another prolonged fire season. So far this year, 3,539 fires have been reported in California, compared with 2,875 over the same period in 2020. The number of acres burned has jumped 58 per cent year on year.
As more fires ignite and the demand for firefighters increases, the US National Interagency Fire Centre last week raised the national preparedness to level four on its 1-5 scale. It’s the fourth time in the last 20 years that it has hit that level in June. Around 9,000 firefighters are already on the ground, battling blazes.
Our Supporter Programme funds special reports on the issues that matter. Click here to help fund more of our public-interest journalism
Jasmine Valencia, 23, had jobs in boat sales and selling lemonade at music festivals before she saw a flier for the CCC while on a hike in Yosemite National Park. She joined Inland Crew 5 in December and has already been on the ground fighting fires.
“At first it feels like you’re on a different planet,” she tells The Independent. “It was eye-opening, like, ‘Oh, I’m really doing this.'"....
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