More on Discovery Channel's CAL Fire series

 I wrote last week about Discovery Channel's CAL Fire Series, see my January 6th post. I had not had a chance to watch the episode 1 "Sacrifice."Actually, I have watched the first episode twice, thanks to Discovery On Demand and recorded episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You." Discovery is air the short lived CAL Fire series on Sunday nights at 10 PM. So far I know of three episodes. You should (I hope) be able to watch these episodes for free at the Discovery Channel CAL Fire watch now page. I have no idea how long Discovery will make these episodes available on their web site. Some of you may be interested in the review that Bill Gabbert, who was a wildland firefighter for 30 years, had to say about episode 1, his review may be found on this January 4th post on Wildfire Today.

I approached watching Discovery's CAL Fire series as a chance to watch and learn about how CAL Fire has fought some of the wildfires from the devastating 2020 wildfire season. As I understand it, Discovery imbedded some reporters with hi tech cameras for three months with CAL Fire companies as they fought wildfires. They also captured some off duty moments such as training, and preparing and cooking meals. But much of the focus is on the wildfires. Through these two episodes you hear firefighters talking fighting wildfires, the sacrifices they make and their love of the job. There is some discussion about the strategies they use to fight specific wildfires and the wildfires themselves. 

In episode 1, "Sacrifice", footage of engine companies fighting the Apple Fire (Riverside County) and the Ponderosa Fire (Shasta Fire). I won't get into details about these two fires as they are referred to in the episode. In episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You" a different CAL Fire is showcased, fighting the River and the Carmel Fires in northern California, I believe but am not sure that both burned in Monterey County.  I am not sure, but I believe that I saw a NWS Incident Meteorologist give a weather briefing about a dry lightning forecast on the River and Carmel fires. Throughout each of these two episodes, I saw tankers and helicopters working the wildfires in support of the firefighters on the ground.

As I watched these two episodes, I reminded myself that I am looking at how CAL Fire fights wildfires with a focus on the 2020 wildfire season. While I believe that some of the basics of wildland firefighting may be the same, i.e. cutting line, felling trees, dozers, and aerial support (if available); what other state firefighting agencies and federal wildfire crews (US Forest Service, BLM, etc.) do will be different (size of wildfires, weather, topography, fuel types, etc.).