(9 Aug 2018) Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand are helping California beat back raging wildfires, arriving this week at the Mendocino Complex Fire after an 8,600-mile (13,840-kilometer) flight and two-hour bus trip.
"There's about forty New Zealanders and about another 120 Australians here. We got a request for help from your federal agencies so we've come to here to A, assist as much as we can and B, to learn a bit from the scale of what you do here. It's amazing," said Craig Cottrill, chief of the Wellington Fire Department.
The New Zealanders have been assigned as safety officers, line supervisors and heavy equipment "bosses" who direct bulldozer operators.
Firefighters said for the first time Wednesday that they have made good progress battling the state's largest-ever wildfire but didn't expect to have it fully under control until September.
The blaze north of San Francisco has grown to the size of Los Angeles since it started two weeks ago, fueled by dry vegetation, high winds and rugged terrain that made it too dangerous for firefighters to directly attack the flames now spanning 470 square miles (1,217 square kilometers).
Crews, including inmates and firefighters from overseas, have managed to cut lines around half the fire to contain the flames, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The blaze about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of San Francisco around the resort region of Clear Lake has destroyed 116 homes and injured two firefighters.
Those lines have kept the southern edge of the fire from spreading into residential areas on the east side of the lake. But Cal Fire said the flames are out of control to the north, roaring into remote and unpopulated areas of thick forests and deep ravines as firefighters contend with record-setting temperatures.
California is seeing earlier, longer and more destructive wildfire seasons because of drought, warmer weather attributed to climate change and home construction deeper into the forests.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jonathan Cox said the area has few natural barriers to slow flames and terrain that firefighters can't get to. So firefighters fall back to the nearest road, ridge or river, where they bulldoze a wide line and wait for the flames to come to them.
The Mendocino Complex, which will take months to put out, is one of 18 burning throughout the state Wednesday. Because of such extreme conditions early on, officials and experts warn that California could be facing its toughest wildfire season yet, with the historically worst months still to come.
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