Why Cal Fire isn’t yet sending firefighters as Australia battles historic wildfires

Despite the state’s fire season being over, California’s main firefighting agency won’t for the time being send firefighters to battle the massive wildfires burning in Australia.

“Having experienced firsthand the devastation that wildfires can create, we share your concern about the wildfires currently ravaging Australia and are closely monitoring the situation,” Cal Fire said Friday in a statement posted on Twitter. “While we are ready to lend our support at any moment, it is strategically vital that we do not self-deploy and that we work with the international aide system.”

Cal Fire Deputy Chief Scott McLean said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee the agency would send firefighters to Australia upon receiving a request from the U.S. government, but so far, the feds haven’t made that request.

“We’re prepared to help our brothers and sisters,” McLean said. “They would order what they thought they need. We’d have to do our best to fulfill the need.”

In response to Australia’s requests for international firefighting aide, federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management already have provided more 100 firefighters, including more than a dozen from California. Dozens more U.S. firefighters are expected to fly out in the coming days, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Cal Fire has around 6,500 year-round employees — a number that expands to around 9,000 during fire season when seasonal firefighters are hired, McLean said.

The U.S., Australia and New Zealand have been exchanging firefighting resources for more than 15 years.

The most recent exchange occurred in August of 2018, when 138 Australian and New Zealand firefighters were sent to the U.S. for almost a month to assist with wildfires in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The last time the U.S sent firefighters to Australia was in 2010, according to the Interagency Fire Center.

“We stand with the people of Australia who have supported us during our catastrophic wildfires and continue to stand ready to answer their call,” Cal Fire said on Twitter.

While it’s the rainy season in California, Australia’s dry summer months have only just begun. Fires have already burned about 12.35 million acres of land, left at least 19 people dead, and destroyed more than 1,400 homes.

By comparison, California’s most destructive fire season on record in 2018 burned 1.9 million acres, destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed nearly 100 people.

This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 4:03 PM.