With so many fires going on this season at such high intensities, firefighters have been strapped for resources.

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This year to date, 6,744 fires that have burned a total of 731,260 acres according to Cal Fire. Currently, there are 35 wildfires burning statewide according to the Incident Information System, InciWeb. In order to battle the blazes, there have also been some 21,000 firefighters assigned to fires in 10 Western States. (NIFC)

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“It doesn’t help right now with all the hurricanes going on either,” says Shawn Compton, Orleans Complex Information Officer and firefighter since 1993, “When you have no more resources nationwide, it’s really hard to find them.” The scarcity of resources makes it much harder to respond to these fires. With so much going on at one time, there are only so many resources to go around and Compton says it ultimately comes down to “what fire is more important to the other.”

While this season proves to be a difficult one to manage, Curtis Coots, The Orleans Complex Incident Commander says that, “When it comes down to it, life and property, that’s always the focus.”

But what’s going to stop the blazes? While manpower alone can redirect and slow down the progression of fires, it isn’t manpower that’s going to stop these high intensity fires.

“You can put 1000 firefighters in front of a crown fire, its not going to stop it,” says Compton. “A season ending event, that’s what’s going to put the fire out.”