The Department of Defense is sending 200 soldiers from Washington state to California in an effort to combat a wildfire season that is shaping up to be historically destructive, according to Task & Purpose.
Within the last month, California has faced the second and sixth most destructive individual fires in the state's recorded history. The Mendocino Complex Fire and the Carr Fire have burned through over 300,000 acres of land, caused mass evacuations, destroyed over 1,800 homes, and killed 7. And that is from only two fires among more than a dozen across the state.
According to the federal National Wildfire Coordinating Group, which is made up of ten various fire suppression groups across the country, the state is currently battling 14 serious blazes. These includes threats to some of the state's most famous national landmarks in Yosemite National Park.
Several park entrances have been closed due to active fires, which show no sign of abating. "Due to increased fire activity in the areas adjacent to and on Yosemite National Park, park administrators and fire managers have made the decision to extend the current park closures indefinitely," a notice on the park's website says.
The soldiers joining the efforts to battle the blazes have no firefighting experience. They will be trained at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Thursday for four days, after which they will be sent in to fight the real thing on August 13. A military spokesman said in a statement that the soldiers will be “fully trained” before they confrot the fires.
California has had its fair share of destructive fires, but the current devastation is stronger than years past. Horrifying phenomena like the massive fire tornadoes within the Carr Fire have only added to the destruction.
Scott McLean, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, told the Huffington Post that it is "our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires.” Scientists acknowledge that there is an "undeniable link" to climate change in the Carr Fire, which fed of a heat wave that hit triple-digits for three straight weeks.
Source: Task & Purpose